SOei'lZ-NVT'lVd 

1 

A  "N   'aSHDEJA^ 

1: 

sja^iBK 

■  : 

•SOJfl  pjOJ^Bf) 

1 

iiiiii 


^"^  6  IQt7 


BEFOEE  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOGRAPHIC  BOAED 


m   THE  MATTER  OF  THE 


0f  iinunt  Satnto 


-^^.^\t-ii£. 


Statement  of  Charles  Tallmadge  Conover 

REPRESENTING  NUMEROUS   CITIZENS   OF  THE   STATE  OF 

AVASHINGTON  IN  FAVOR  OF  RETAINING  THE  PRESENT 

NAME,  AND  ORAL  PRESENTATION  BY  C.  T. 

CONOVER  AND  VICTOR  J.  FARRAR 


®If^  i^rtBtnn 


m\ 


Q 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2008  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/beforeunitedstatOOunitrich 


BEFORE  THE  UNITED  STATES  GEOGRAPHIC  BOARD 


IX  THE  MATTER  OF  THE 


at  Mmnt  Satuto 


Statement  of  Charles  Tallmadge  Conover 

REPRESENTING  NUMEROUS  CITIZENS   OF  THE   STATE  OF 

WASHINGTON  IN  FAVOR  OF  RETAINING  THE  PRESENT 

NAME,  AND  ORAL  PRESENTATION  BY  C.  T. 

CONOVER  AND  VICTOR  J.  FARRAR 


P- 1 J 


This  hearing  is  held  in  compliance  with  a  Joint-memorial  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  state  of  Washington  petitioning  your  Honorable  Body  to  substitute 
for  the  name  Mount  Rainier  the  most  appropriate  name  that  you  may  select 
after  having  given  a  hearing  to  those  who  may  desire  to  present  evidence.  The 
original  joint-memorial  which  passed  the  house  and  was  killed  in  the  senate  on 
a  point  of  order  as  to  its  form  and  by  ridicule  was  in  these  words : 

In  the  House  '■'  By  Mr.  Elliott. 

I|0«H^  Qlnttrurr^nt  S^aoUtttnn  Nn.  8 

STATE  OF  WASHINGTON 

FIFTEENTH  REGULAR  SESSION 

January  15,  1917,  read  first  and  second  time,  ordered  printed,  and  referred  to 
Committee  on  Memorials. 

Relating  to  Changing  the  Name  of  Mount  Rainier 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Members  of  the  Geographic  Board  of  the  United 
States.    Sirs : 

Whereas.  The  name  of  the  great  mountain  peak  of  the  Cascade 
range,  situate  in  the  State  of  Washington,  is  a  matter  of  unending  contro- 
versy among  the  citizens  thereof,  many  of  whom  (and  these  for  the  most 
part  among  those  most  closely  associated  with  it)  always  havR  refused  and 
still  refuse  to  call  it  by  the  official  designation  Eainier,  but  insist  that  a 
name  by  which  it  was  known  to  the  aborigines  is  in  every  way  more  appro- 
priate; and 

Whereas,  The  reason  given  by  these  citizens  for  said  refusal,  that  the 
name  Eainier  was  bestowed  by  the  so-called  discoverer,  Vancouver,  an 
Englishman,  to  honor  a  friend  of  his  in  the  English  navy,  one  Peter  Rai- 
nair,  who  never  saw  the  mountain  nor  had  any  other  association  with  it 
whatever  such  as  would  entitle  him  to  such  honor  and  distinction,  and 
that,  instead,  said  Rainier  at  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution,  when 
we  were  fighting  for  liberty,  was  actively  engaged  as  an  enemy  against  us 
and  was  effective  in  harassing  and  destroying  our  ships  of  commerce,  it 
being  a  matter  of  history  that  he  captured  and  carried  away  the  ship  Polly 
from  the  American  coast — these  reasons,  set  forth  in  a  petition  signed  by 
a  considerable  number  of  the  citizens  of  this  State  and  submitted  to  this 
Legislature  seem'  to  us  reasonable  and  to  form  substantial  cause  upon 
which  to  base  this  memorial  to  your  honorable  body,  we  therefore  respect- 
ively submit  these  following  facts  for  your  consideration,  namely: 

(1)  That  the  name  Rainier  is  objectionable  for  the  reason  here 
already  set  forth;  and 

(2)  That  it  has  been  a  subject  of  constant  criticism  by  publicists 
from  the  country  at  large  and  has  subjected  the  citizens  of  this  State  to 
humilitation  through  reflection  upon  their  taste  and  patriotism;  and 

(3)  That  it  is  well  known  to  be  the  custom  in  this  and  other  coun- 


361956 


tries  to  give  preference  to  local  and  a.borigina.l  names  for  natural  physical 
objects  where  euphony  permits,  and  that  this  custom,  dictated  by  good 
taste  and  proper  sentiment,  is  here  grossly  violated;  and 

(•i)  That  the  aboriginal  name  for  this  mountain  is  euphonious, 
meaningful  and  peculiarly  appropriate  and  should  be  given  preference  on 
these  merits  without  regard  to  the  no  less  peculiarly  inappropriate  and 
unfortunate  character  of  the  name  now  officially  applied;  and 

(5)  This  peak  being  the  most  stately  and  altogether  imposing  nat- 
ural monument  on  this  continent,  and  situate  in  the  State  called  Wash- 
ington, should  not  be  given  over  to  the  honor  of  an  enemy  of  our  country — 
one  who  fought  to  prevent  our  securing  freedom  and  independence. 

For  these  reasons  we  respectfully  petition  your  honorable  body  to 
substitute  for  the  name  Tiainier  the  most  appropriate  of  the  several  varia- 
tions of  the  aboriginal  name,  and  that  you  select  this  name  after  having 
given  a  hearing  to  those  who  may  desire  to  present  evidence  as  to  what  that 
name  is  as  applied  by  the  various  tribes  of  this  region,  and  who  have  always 
looked  and  still  look  t-o  the  mountain  with  awe  and  reverence,  as  to  God. 

And  we  will  ever  pray. 

NOT  THE  SENTIMENT  OF  THE  STATE 

Throughout  the  entire  campaign  which  has  been  waged  for  more  than  two 
years  to  secure  such  action  by  the  legislature  of  Washington,  Rainier's  nation- 
ality and  the  fact  that  he  had  served  in  some  minor  capacity  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  was  the  chief  motive  urged.  Ever}-  member  of  both  houses  was 
personally  visited  weeks  and  months  before  the  convening  of  the  legislature 
and  pledged,  if  possible,  to  vote  for  such  a  memorial.  The  argument  advanced 
was  so  generally  ridiculed  throughout  the  state  that  it  was  finally  abandoned  in 
the  memorial  that  passed.  'Jliis  ridicule  was  emphasized  by  memorials  intro- 
duced to  change  the  name  of  Mount  Baker  to  Mount  Bellingham,  Mount  St. 
Helens  to  Mount  Chehalis,  Mount  Hood  to  Mount  Portland,  Puget  Sound  to 
Seattle  Sound,  etc.,  various  communities  apparently  desiring  to  have  named 
for  them  for  advertising  purposes  the  great  natural  features  nearest  to  them 
respectively,  reciting  that  they  had  all  been  named  for  men  at  one  time  enemies 
of  this  country,  and  British. 

]?ef erring  to  the  present  hearing  and  confirmatory  of  the  fact  that  the 
movement  for  a  change  of  name  is  not  expressive  of  the  sentiment  of  the  state, 
the  following  extract  from  the  Seattle  Fost-InteUigencer,  April  21,  1917,  is 
quoted : 

"Within  a  few  days  the  United  States  Geographic  Board  will  con- 
sider the  proposal  to  change  the  name  of  Mount  Rainier,  and  a  move- 
ment that  received  no  inconsiderable  part  of  its  impetus  as  a  jest  will 
become  a  decidedly  serious  matter.  The  question  of  changing  the  name 
of  the  mountain  has  been  discussed  so  long  and  with  so  much  vehemence 


on  the  part  of  the  good  people  of  Tacoma  that  the  rest  of  the  State  until 
now  has  ceased  to  take  it  seriously. 

"When  the  Tacoma  boosters  made  their  drive  at  the  legislature 
this  year  many  newspapers  saw  an  opportunity  to  have  some  interurban 
fun.  Much  to  the  astonishment  of  the  jocular  press,  the  necessary  for- 
malities were  achieved  in  the  legislature  and  the  Tacoma  proposal  is 
about  to  be  given  serious  consideration." 

After  the  original  memorial  had  been  killed  amid  a  wave  of  ridicule,  the 
following  was  substituted  and  finally  passed: 

Btmtt  3l0tnt  memorial  No-  14 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Members  of  the  Geographic  Board  of  the  United  States : 

Your  memorialists,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
State  of  Washington,  in  legislative  session  assembled,  respectively  repre- 
sent that. 

Whereas,  The  name  of  the  great  mountain  peak  of  the  Cascade 
Range,  situate  in  the  State  of  Washington,  is  a  matter  of  unending  con- 
troversy among  the  citizens  thereof,  many  of  whom  always  have  refused 
and  still  refuse  to  call  it  by  the  official  designation  "Rainier", 

Wherefore,  Your  memorialists  respectfully  petition  your  honorable 
body  to  substitute  for  the  name  "Rainier"  the  most  appropriate  name  that 
you  may  select  after  having  given  a  hearing  to  those  who  may  desire  to 
present  evidence  as  to  what  that  name  should  be.    , 

And  we  will  ever  pray. 

The  action  of  the  legislature  in  passing  this  memorial  in  no  way  repre- 
sents the  sentiment  of  the  State  of  Washington.  The  campaign  referred  to 
met  with  no  organized  opposition  because  it  was  not  considered  possible  that 
this  Honorable  Board  would  reverse  a  judgment  rendered  more  than  twenty- 
six  years  ago,  after  a  thorough  and  complete  investigation  of  the  subject;  and 
to  ask  it  to  do  so  seemed  to  the  people  of  the  state  at  large  as  impertinent  as 
it  would  be  to  ask  the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  to  reverse  a  judgment 
previously  given. 

The  people  of  the  state  at  large  had  little  chance  to  oppose  that  memorial. 
They  had  no  concerted  agency  to  combat  the  ambitions  of  the  city  of  Tacoma 
and  had  no  realization  of  the  fact  that  the  ground  had  been  prepared  for  such 
action  by  the  legislature. 

POLITICAL  PRESSURE 

Attention  is  called  to  the  affidavit  of  William  Bishop,  born  in  the  County 
of  Jetferson,  State  of  Washington,  the  son  of  a  full-blooded  Indian  mother  and 
he  a  member  of  the  present  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Wash- 
ington from  the  County  of  Jefferson  and  member  for  the  past  ten  years, 
particularly  these  words : 

5 


"That,  knowing  the  facts  and  circumstances  in  this  matter,  he  op- 
posed the  passage  of  the  joint  memorial  in  the  last  session  of  the  state 
legislature  and  unqualifiedly  states  that  the  real  sentiment  of  both  houses 
was  opposed  to  the  passage  of  the  memorial  asking  for  the  change  in  this 
name ;  that  its  passage  was  secured  through  the  powerful  influence  of  the 
speaker  of  the  house,  who  was  from  Tacoma,  and  the  president  of  the 
senate,  who  was  from  Tacoma.  Their  influence,  through  the  chairmen 
of  the  various  committees,  whom  they  had  appointed,  absolutely  con- 
trolled. That  the  passage  of  said  memorial  was  somewhat  facilitated  by 
the  argument  -that  Rainier  was  an  Englishman  and  had  been  an  enemy 
of  this  country," 

MUCH  FORMER  EVIDENCE  NOT  NOW  AVAILABLE 

From  the  time  of  Vancouver's  discovery  and  naming  of  Moimt  Rainier  to 
the  present  day  this  mountain  has  been  officially  known  as  Rainier  on  all  charts 
and  publications  of  the  United  States  Government  and  of  the  governments  of 
:the  civilized  world,  and  by  the  people  of  the  world,  excepting  only  those  of 
one  county  in  the  State  of  Washington.  The  judgment  of  the  Geographic 
Board  has  likewise  been  accepted  by  the  entire  world  outside  of  the  one  county 
referred  to.  It  is  impossible  at  this  late  date  to  present  any  new  evidence  or 
anything  like  the  first  hand  evidence  that  was  available  when  the  previous  hear- 
ing by  th  Honorable  Board  was  held  more  than  twenty-six  years  ago,  for  the 
reason  that  the  majority  of  the  pioneers  who  knew  the  facts  at  first  hand  have 
passed  away.  The  reason  advanced  for  the  change,  that  the  name  Rainier 
honored  an  Englishman  who  had  been  an  enemy  of  this  countr}-,  we  respect- 
fully submit  has  no  bearing  whatever. 

WHAT  A  CHANGE  WOULD  LEAD  TO 

To  carry  this  to  a  logical  conclusion  would  necessitate  changing  the  names 
bestowed  by  Vancouver  on  practically  all  the  physical  features  in  the  Pacific 
Northwest  and  the  names  of  countless  numbers  of  mountains,  rivers,  cities  and 
natural  features  throughout  the  nation,  as  well  as  the  rechristening  of  several 
of  the  original  thirteen  colonies.  At  this  time  when  we  are  allied  with  the  great 
British  nation  in  a  fight  for  world  freedom,  a  change  of  name  based  on  such  an 
argument  could  not  fail  to  be  construed  as  an  unfriendly  act  and  would  be  a 
flagrant  offense  against  national  honor  and  good  faith.  If  it  were  possible  lo 
conceive  of  the  National  Geographic  Board  taking  such  action  on  such  grounds, 
it  would  inevitably  follow  that  we  should  have  to  replace  all  historic  Spanish 
names  with  others  for  the  reason  that  we  have  since  had  a  war  with  Spain,  and 
as  we  are  now  in  a  conflict  with  Germany,  we  should  likewise  be  obliged  to  ob- 
literate all  geographic  names  of  German  origin,  as  Bismarck,  Berlin,  and  many 
others.  The  matter  appears  too  ridiculous  for  discussion  and  was  happily  omit- 
ted from  the  final  memorial,  although  it  was  the  sole  motive  urged  for  the 
passage  of  said  memorial.     We  cite  the  leaflet  submitted  herewitli  signed  by 


seventeen  prominent  citizens  of  Tacoma,  headed  by  the  mayor,  and  entitled, 
"For  Justice  to  the  Mountain",  particularly  this  extract : 

"That  a  petition  be  circulated  in  Seattle  and  Tacoma  and  throughout 
the  state,  asking  the  Geographic  Board  at  Washington  to  renounce  the 
name  Rainier  and  adopt  in  its  stead  one  of  the  various  forms  of  the  Indian 
name  *  *  *  for  the  reason  that  Rainier,  for  whom  Vancouver  named 
the  mountain,  was  an  enemy  of  our  country  and  fought  against  us  when 
we  were  struggling  for  our  liberty,  and  that  to  honor  him  with  such  a 
monument — the  most  majestic  single  peak  on  earth — is  extremely  offensive 
to  the  patriotic  feeling  of  a  people  living  in  the  state  called  Washington", 
etc. 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  same  leaflet  goes  to  the  length  of  quoting  a  mem- 
ber of  this  Bpard  as  favoring  a  change  of  name  on  the  same  ground. 

Happily  the  right  of  Mount  Rainier,  the  most  sublime  single  scenic  fea- 
ture in  the  United  States,  to  tlie  name  of  Rainier  and  no  other  is  conclusive 
and  incontrovertible. 

RAINIER'S  TITLE  UNASSAILABLE 

"The  weather  was  serene  and  pleasant  and  the  country  con- 
tinued to  exhibit  between  us  and  the  eastern  snowy  range  the 
same  luxurious  appearance.  At  its  northern  extremity  Mount 
Baker  bore  by  compass  N.  22E,  the  round  snowy  mountain  now 
forming  its  southern  extremity  and  which,  after  my  friend,  Rear- 
Admiral  Rainier,  I  distinguished  by  the  name  of  MOUNT 
RAINIER,  bore  N.  (S.)  42E."  (Captain  George  Vancouver:  A 
Voyage  of  Discovery  to  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Round  the 
World,  London,  1801,  Book  II,  Chapter  IV,  Page  79,  entry  of 
May  8,  1792). 

The  accepted  right  of  early  discoverers  in  a  new  country  with  uncivilized 
inhabitants,  or  with  no  inhabitants,  to  confer  geographic  names  has  never  been 
traversed  by  geographic  authority.  Such,  in  almost  verbatim  language,  is  the 
precept  laid  down  by  George  Davidson,  for  many  years  identified  with  the 
United  States  Coast  Survey  and  author  of  the -Pacific  Coast- Pilot  and  other 
monumental  geographic  works.  (George  Davidson  in  Sierra  Club  Bulletin, 
Jan.,  1907,  page  89.)  This  principle  is  so  universally  accepted  and  so  gen- 
erally observed  that  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  cite  multitudinous  examples  or 
apologies  for  the  few  exceptions.  In  Vancouver's  application  of  names  he  was 
conforming  to  the  precepts  of  his  day  and  to  his  profession.  All  the  names 
which  he  bestowed  have  been  retained.  Only  one,  "Rainier",  has  been  ques- 
tioned. 


In  his  explorations  in  the  northwest  country  Vancouver  was  first  to  reach 
some  parts  and  second  and  even  third  to  reach  other  parts ;  thus  Gray  beat  him 
in  the  race  to  the  River  of  the  AYest,  but  Vancouver^  recognizing  his  defeat,  fol- 
lowed the  time-honored  precept  and  retained  the  name  "Columbia",  which 
Gray  gave  to  this  river.  Vancouver  further  honored  Gray  by  naming  Gray's 
Harbor  for  him,  because  he  (Gray)  was  first  to  enter  it.  Other  explorers 
on  the  coast  at  the  same  time  were  the  Spanish.  It  has  since  developed  that 
that  nation  made  extensive  surveys  and  added  many  names  to  the  geograpliic 
features  thereof.  Unfortunately,  due  to  Spanish  indifference,  these  maps  did 
not  appear  until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Had  they  appeared 
earlier  Vancouver  would  most  certainly  have  incorporated  the  Spanish  nomen- 
clature in  his  maps. 

INDIAN  NAME  HAS  NO  RIGHT  OVER  CIVILIZED  NAME 

The  argument  has  been  repeatedly  advanced  that  the  name  Rainier  should 
be  disposed  and  the  aboriginal  name  restored.  Even  if  a  specific  Indian  name 
had  been  proven,  and  there  are  four  with  titles  quite  well  confirmed,  such  an 
assumption  has  no  warrant  in  fact.  An  explorer  may  bestow  any  name  that 
he  may  choose,  and  long  usage  and  official  recognition  give  it  a  title.  The 
map  of  the  State  of  "Washington  discloses  himdreds  of  names  of  civilized  origin 
replacing  aboriginal  appellations.  Thus  the  city  of  Tacoma  has  its  Indian 
name  "Shuhballup,''  but  its  inhabitants  have  shown  no  desire  to  return  to  the 
aboriginal  title. 

NEVER  QUESTIONED  BY  COMPETENT  AUTHORITY 

Thus,  by  priority  of  discoven%  and  by  publicity  to  the  world,  Vancouver 
made  good  his  claim  to  name  the  highest  peak  in  the  now  State  of  Washington 
Mount  Rainier.  That  claim  has  never  been  questioned  by  competent  authority. 
All  official  publications  of  the  United  States  Government,  of  international  gov- 
ernments, all  maps,  charts,  profiles,  etc.,  of  explorers,  whether  representing 
official  governments  or  not,  have,  by  the  retention  of  the  name  Mount  Rainier, 
substantiated  Vancouver's  claim.  Further,  in  the  vast  majority  of  private 
works,  in  the  conversations,  letters,  communications,  etc.,  of  pioneers  and  pri- 
vate citizens,  and  in  a  vast  majority  of  advertising  by  legitimate  exploiters  of 
the  mountain,  the  claim  of  Vancouver  has  been  substantiated.  From  1793 
until  1917,  no  competent  authority  has  shaken  A^ancouver's  claim. 

GEOGRAPHER  COULD  NOT  ASSIST  THE  MOVEMENT 

In  support  of  the  inviolability  of  the  title  of  Mount  Rainier  we  particularly 
call  attention  to  the  Sierra  Club  Bulletin  of  San  Francisco,  January,  1907, 
pages  87-99  inclusive,  embracing  a  report  to  the  directors  of  the  club  by  George 


Davidson,  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey,  author  of  the  Pacific  Coast  Pilot 
and  other  important  geographic  works.  This  is  the  most  thorough  and  able 
discussion  of  the  present  controversy  that  probably  has  ever  appeared.  It  is 
too  long  to  quote  in  this  paper,  but  the  first  and  last  sentences  are  most 
pertinent : 

"To  the  Directors  of  the  Sierra  Club,  San  Francisco,  Gentlemen: 
You  have  assigned  to  me  the  duty  of  making  a  report  for  your  considera- 
tion upon  the  subject  proposed  by.  Mr.  Charles  F.  Lummis,  namely,  to 
assist  in  having  the  name  of  Mount  Eainior  changed  to  Mount  Tacoma. 
*  *  *  This  examination  has  extended  beyond  what  we  expected  to 
present,  yet  it  seemed  desirable  not  to  appeal  to  any  local  prejudices,  but 
to  lead  through  good  authority  to  that  of  the  highest  governmental  de- 
cree. And  we  respectfully  submit  that  in  this  instance  such  decree  is  in 
conformity  with  the  usage  of  historians,  geographers  and  government 
records  through  more  than  a  century;  therefore,  we  suggest  that  the 
Sierra  Club  can  take  no  action  whatever  in  urging  the  use  of  the  new 
name  proposed  for  Mount  Eainier." 

We  will  also  quote  the  following  pertinent  sentences  from  the  exhaustive 
and  impartial  report  of  Davidson: 

"George  Vancouver  did  not  ignore  Indian  names  when  he  could 
obtain  them  from  the  Spaniards  and  fur  traders.     *     *     * 

"In  Vancouver's  application  of  names — and  he  was  far  from  prolific — 
he  was  conforming  to  the  precepts  of  his  day  and  profession.  That  method 
has  been  followed  to  the  present  time.  It  is  seen  in  the  latest  Antartic 
Explorations.     *     *     * 

"Vancouver's  names  upon  this  western  coast  are  part  of  tlie  history 
of  geographical  discovery  and  exploration  pennanently  given  to  the  world 
in  his  narrative  and  charts  and  have  been  unchallenged  by  geographers 
of  all  nationalities." 

OTHER  EFFORTS  AT  NOMENCLATURE 

In  1839  Hall  J.  Kelley,  of  Boston,  ^lass.,  in  the  interest  of  the  American 
side  of  the  "Oregon  Question",  issued  a  memoir  (in  Re])ort  of  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  House  Report,  Xo.  101,  25  C,  3S.,  Serial  No.  351,  pp. 
47-6] )  in  which  he  urged  that  the  Cascade  Mountains  be  called  the  Presidents' 
Range  and  that  the  various  peaks  therein  be  nanied  after  the  ex-presidents  of 
the  United  States.  Kelley  put  this  system  of  nomenclature  into  operation  upon 
his  own  authority.  He  distributed  the  presidents'  names  from  Washington  to 
Jackson  on  such  peaks  as  he  saw  fit.  He  ran  out  of  ex-presidents'  names  and. 
therefore,  did  not  depose  Mount  Rainier.  J.  Quinn  Thornton,  in  1849,  carried 
Kelley's  scheme  further  and  removed  Rainier  in  favor  of  Harrison  (Oregon 
and  California,  New  York,  1849,  Vol.  I,  p  316).  A  third  exponent  extended 
the  list  to  include  Tyler  (L.  W.  Hastings:  A  New  Description  of  Oregon  and 
California,  Cincinnati,  1857,  pp  24-26).     By  that  time  there  appeared  some 


rivalry  and  confusion  among  the  Kellev  exponents,  and  Mount  Baker  some- 
times appears  as  Mount  Tyler  and  at  other  times  as  Mount  Polk.  This  system 
never  had  oflficial  or  local  usage.  One  would  have  to  get  a  book  or  check-list  to 
keep  the  names  straight.    The  system  was,  in  fact,  only  a  historical  curiosity. 

THE  CITY  OF  TACOMA  NAMED 

In  1863  Theodore  Winthrop,  in  a  posthumous  work  ('The  Canoe  and  Sad- 
dle") referred  to  Mount  Eainier  as."Tacoma",  without  any  "Mount."  In 
August,  1868,  General  McCarver,  one  of  the  townsite  owners  of  the  present 
city  of  Tacoma,  employed  Charles  A,  White,  an  Olympia  civil  engineer,  to  sur- 
vey and  map  a  portion  of  his  land  for  townsite  purposes.  In  doing  this  White 
placed  upon  the  map  the  words,  "Commencement  City".  The  word  Commence- 
ment was  secured  from  the  official  name  of  the  bay,  a  name  bestowed  by  Wilkes 
in  1841.  At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  McCarver,  who  had  just  read  Theodore 
Winthrop's  book,  the  name  was  changed  to  Tacoma, 

RAINIER  HISTORICALLY  CONFIRMED  BY  TACOMA 

From  this  time,  1868  until  1883,  the  name  Mount  Eainier  was  used  con- 
tinuously by  the  people  of  Tacoma  as  the  name  of  the  mountain.  jSTobody 
questioned  the  right  of  the  mountain  to  be  known  as  Eainier.  On  December 
15,  1879,  the  Tacoma  North  Pacific  Coast  says:  "Back  of  Steilacoom  are  the 
gravelly  plains,  interspersed  with  beautiful  lakes  and  groves.  In  the  rear 
ground  of  this  natural  park  stands  majestic  Eainier".    (Original  submitted.) 

Under  date  of  January  1,  1880,  the  same  paper  prints  a  poem  by  Belle  W. 
Cooke,  entitled  "Mount  Tacoma'*;  also  a  reprint  of  an  article  by  Hazard 
Stevens  entitled  "The  Ascent  of  Takhoma".  In  the  same  issue  is  this  editorial 
comment : 

"In  the  poem  by  Mrs.  Cooke  and  in  Hazard  Stevens*  *As- 
cent*  of  Mount  Rainier,  which  we  republish  from  the  'Atlantic', 
we  have  followed  the  author's  spelling.  We  do  not  suppose  that 
names  so  well  established  as  are  Puget  Sound,  Mount  Rainier, 
Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  can  be  changed  by  an  author's  senti- 
ment or  an  editor's  whim,  so  we  shall  continue  to  apply  the  name 
of  the  old  English  Rear-Admiral  to  our  mountain  and  call  it 
Rainier." 

From  that  time  on  until  the  middle  of  the  year  1883  the  North  Pacific 
Coast  continued  that  policy.  The  same  use  of  Mount  Eainier  was  made  by  the 
Tacoma  Weekly  Ledger  and  the  Tacoma  News.  Attention  is  respectfully  called 
to  articles  appearing  in  the  following  issues,  which  are  submitted  herewith : 

10 


In  the  North  Pacific  Coast,  December  15,  1879,  is  reprinted  an  article  from 
the  San  Francisco  Chronicle,  written  by  E.  F.  Eadebaugh,  with  this  sentence: 
"The  pass  is  to  the  south  of  Moimt  Rainier  about  twenty  miles  and  was  recently 
discovered  as  feasible",  etc. 

Mr.  Eadebaugh  was  the  owner  and  publisher  of  the  Tacoma  Ledger  at  the 
time  of  the  edict  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Eailroad  to  change  the  name  of  the 
mountain  to  "Mount  Tacoma",  and  was  thereafter  one  of  the  most  pronounced 
advocates  of  the  Name  "Tacoma".  This  is  stated  on  personal  knowledge,  as  the 
writer  was  on  the  staff  of  his  paper  somewhat  later. 

Tacoma  News,  November  16,  1882,  an  article  entitled  "Approaching 
Mount  Eainier." 

Tacoma  Weekly  Ledger,  July  7,  1882,  item  referring  to  glaciers  on  Mount 
Rainier. 

I'acoma  Weekly  Ledger,  November  17,  1882,  quotation  from  Seattle  Post- 
TntelVigencer  regarding  Mount  Eainier. 

Tacoma  Weekly  Ledger,  January  5,  1883,  an  article  regarding  the  cutting 
of  a  new  trail  to  the  glaciers  on  Mount  Eainier. 

Tacoma  News,  February  22,  1883,  an  article  embracing  a  description  of 
sunset  on  ]\Iount  Eainier.  Also  an  article  descriptive  of  glacial  formations  of 
Mount  Eainier  by  a  party  of  young  men. 

Tacoma  Weekly  Ledger,  February  23,  1883,  an  article  on  New  Tacoma, 
referring  to  the  snow-capped  summit  of  Mount  Eainier, 

North  Pacific  Coast,  March  30,  1881,  "The  loftiest  peaks  of  the  Cascade 
chain  are  in  order  of  height  as  follows:  Mt.  St.  Elias  in  Alaska,  22,000  feet; 
Mount  Eainier  in  ^Yashington,  18,000  feet",  etc. 

In  most  of  the  above  issues  appears  the  following  lodge  notice:  "Eainier 
Lodge,  No.  11,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  meets  on  Tuesday  evenings  at  the  Masonic  Hall. 
Members  in  good  standing  invited." 

EDICT  ISSUED  TO  CHANGE  THE  NAME 

In  March,  1883,  the  Northivest  Magazine,  published  in  New  York  by  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  announced  that,  "The  Indian  name  Tacoma  will 
hereafter  be  used  in  the  guide  books  and  other  publications  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Eailroad  and  the  Oregon  Eailway  &  Navigation  Co.,  instead  of  Eainier, 
which  the  English  Captain  Vancouver  gave  to  this  magnificent  peak  when  he 
explored  the  waters  of  Puget  Sound  in  the  last  century."  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  movement  to  change  the  name  of  the  mountain. 

11 


Immediately  thereafter  the  Tacoma  newspapers,  which,  since  the  date  of 
their  first  issues,  has  been  using  the  name  Eainier,  began  to  use  the  word 
"Tacoma"  when  referring  to  the  mountain,  and  attempted  to  ridicule  all  who 
did  not  do  likewise. 

Numerous  photographic  copies  of  Tacoma  papers  are  submitted  showing 
their  change  of  policy  as  to  the  title  of  the  mountain  immediately  following 
the  Northern  Pacific's  edict,  "Tacoma"  being  substituted  for  Eainier. 

Despite  the  fact  that  Mount  Rainier  was  by  mandate  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  changed  to  "Mount  Tacoma"',  the  Tacoma  newspapers  occasionally  for- 
get to  use  "Mount  Tacoma".  As  late  as  July  19,  1884,  in  the  Tacoma  News, 
Mount  Rainier  appears.  What  confusion  this  double  use  of  a  name  created  is 
made  clear  from  a  contributed  article  published  in  the  Dailtj  Tacoma  News  on 
July  12,  1884:  "I  went  out  to  Mt.  Tacoma — which,  by  the  way,  is  Mt.  Rainier 
everj-where  except  in  Tacoma — about  sixty  miles  from  the  city." 

Tacoma  News,  July  19.  1884,  says:  "Hon.  James  Longmire,  of  Yelm,  has 
obtained  an  analysis  of  Mt.  Rainier  Medical  Springs",  etc. 

MOUNTAIN  NAMED  AFTER  THE  CITY 

We  are  loath  to  quote  from  that  mass  of  inaccurate  statement  labelled 
"History  of  Washington,  the  Evergreen  State,  from  Early  Dawn  to  Daylight", 
by  Julian  Hawthorne  (but  in  fact  by  C.  G.  Brewerton),  New  York,  1893,  but 
even  in  this  work,  at  page  2(54,  appears  this  truth,  with  only  one  error — that 
of  the  orthography  of  the  word  Rainier: 

"Vancouver,  to  compliment  some  British  naval  officer,  whose  fame 
bv  the  way,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  discover,  is  in  no  wise,  save  possibly 
as  a  casual  visitor,  in  any  way  connected  with  the  exploration  of  Puget 
Sound,  called  it  Regnier.  This  name  afterward  corrupted  to  Rainier,  was 
geuerally  accepted  by  the  early  settlers  up  to  the  time  of  the  completion 
of  the  Northern  Pacific  to  Tacoma ;  then  renaming  the  mountain  after 
the  city,  the  company  called  it  Mount  'Tacoma.' " 

MOVEMENT  FOR  A  STATE  OF  TACOMA 

Before  the  name  Tacoma  was  even  used  unanimously  in  the  city  of  Ta- 
coma, as  a  designation  for  Mount  Rainier,  this  article  appeared  in  the  Yakima 
Signal,  May,  1884 :  "The  proposition  to  name  our  future  state  Tacoma  is 
strongly  opposed  by  papers  throughout  the  Territory.  While  all  are  agreed  that 
the  name  ought  by  all  means  to  be  changed  at  time  of  admission  to  statehood,  it 
is  also  generally  agreed  that  to  name  the  state  Tacoma  would  not  improve  mat- 
ters much  and  that  some  name  should  be  selected  which  is  not  now  appropriated 
by  any  city,  and  that  this  name  should,  if  possible,  have  some  geographical  or 
topographical  significance."     *     *     *     (Italics  ours.) 

12 


Hon.  Cornelius  H.  Hanford,  for  twenty-three  years  judge  of  the  United 
States  District  Court  in  the  State  of  Washington,  who  has  spent  his  life  from 
earliest  infancy  in  the  territ^ory  and  state  and  is  a  recognized  authority  on  pio- 
neer history,  says : 

"A  few  months  prior  to  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  Enabling  Act 
under  which  the  states  of  Washington,  Montana,  North  Dakota  and  South 
Dakota  were  admitted  into  the  Union,  I  attended  a  convention  of  citizens 
of  Washington  Territory  held  for  the  purpose  of  devising  means  whereby 
to  obtain  admission  of  Washington  Territory  into  the  Union  as  a  state. 
That  convention  was  held  at  North  Yakima,  a  city  near  the  geographical 
center  of  the  territory,  and  the  attendance  was  fairly  representative  of  all 
parts  of  the  territory.  Tacoma  propagandists  were  there  urging  the 
adoption  of  that  name  for  the  state,  and  the  subject  was  referred  to  a 
committee,  which  made  a  report  strongly  adverse  to  changing  the  name 
of  the  commonwealth,  and  that  report  was  adopted  enthusiastically  by  the 
convention."      (See  statement  by  C.  H.  Hanford.) 

RAINIER  TITLE  OFFICIALLY  CONFIRMED 

The  efforts  to  substitute  "Mount  Tacoma"  for  Mount  Rainier  were  con- 
tinued with  unabated  ardor  until  1890,  when  the  matter  was  referred  to  the 
United  States  Board  of  Geographic  Names,  which  body,  after  a  complete  inves- 
tigation, confirmed  the  name  "Mount  Rainier."  This  decision  removed  any 
existing  doubt  as  to  the  rightful  claim  of  the  title  Mount  Rainier.  This  deci- 
sion was  accepted  as  final  by  all  the  world  excepting  the  City  of  Tacoma,  which 
has  ignored  the  decision  and  has  persisted  in  using  "Mount  Tacoma",  thus 
defying  the  body  whom  they  now  petition. 

Even  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  which  had  been  responsible 
for  the  entire  controversy,  yielded  to  the  decision  of  the  Geographic  Board  and 
adopted  the  name  Rainier  on  all  its  literature,  and  has  continued  to  do  so  from 
1890  to  the  present  day.  In  an  article  in  the  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer,  March 
13,  1916,  the  general  passenger  agent  of  the  Northern  Pacific  was  quoted  as 
saying  to  a  delegation  of  Tacoma  people  who  had  protested  against  the  use  of 
the  name  Rainier:  "Gentlemen,  we  have  carried  this  farce  as  far  as  we  are 
going  to  for  advertising  purposes.  The  name  has  been  officially  declared  to  be 
Rainier,  and  that  is  what  we  shall  call  it.    You  can  call  it  what  you  please," 

Since  Mount  Rainier  has  a  perfect  title,  by  what  authority  then  can  the 
name  "Mount  Tacoma"  be  substituted  therefor?  Only  by  decision  of  the 
United  States  Geographic  Board. 

The  question,  then,  is,  is  such  a  change  desirable  and  advisable? 

The  genuineness  of  "Tacoma"  as  the  Indian  name  of  Mount  Rainier  is 
entirely  without  proof,  as  the  following  particular  facts  indicate : 

13 


INDIAN  NAME  FOR  MOUNT  RAINIER 

Other  designations  of  Indian  origin  are  matters  of  historical  record.  In 
1833  Dr.  William  Frasier  Tolmie  gives  the  Indian  name  of  the  mountain  as 
"Puskehouse".  Dr.  Tolmie  was  boni  in  Inverness,  Scotland,  February  5,  1812, 
and  died  on  December  8,  1886.  He  was  educated  at  Glasgow  University,  where 
he  graduated  in  August,  1832.  He  later  became  a  Licentiate  of  the  Faculty 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  of  Glasgow.  On  September  12,  1832,  he  accepted 
a  position  as  surgeon  and  clerk  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Co.  and  left  home  for 
the  Columbia  Biver,  arriving  at  Fort  Vancouver  in  1833.  In  the  service  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  he  traveled  and  resided  in  all  portions  of  the  north- 
west country.  In  1855  he  was  appointed  Chief  Factor,  and  in  1858  had  full 
charge  of  the  British  case  before  the  United  States  tribunal.  Dr.  Tolmie  was 
known  to  ethnologists  for  his  contributions  to  the  history  of  the  native  races 
of  the  west  coast,  and  dated  his  interest  in  ethnological  matters  from  his  con- 
tact with  Horatio  Hale,  who  visited  the  west  coast  as  ethnologist  to  the  United 
States  Exploring  Expedition.  He  afterwards  transmitted  vocabularies  of  a 
number  of  tribes  to  Dr.  Scouler  and  to  Mr.  George  Gibbs,  some  of  which  were 
published  in  contributions  to  the  North  American  Ethnologist.  In  1884,  in 
conjunction  with  Dr.  G.  M.  Dawson,  a  complete  series  of  short  vocabularies  of 
the  principal  languages  met  with  in  the  northwest  was  published  by  authority 
of  Parliament  entitled,  "^TomiJarative  Vocabularies  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of 
British  Columbia".  Dr.  Tolmie,  under  date  of  May  26,  1833,  records  the  fol- 
lowing in  his  diary,  kept  while  on  a  journey  from  Ft.  A'ancouver  to  Ft.  Nis- 
qually : 

"The  prairie  now  seemed  encircled  with  trees,  which  arose  a  bristling 
serraded  wall  around,  St.  Helens  bearing  east  towards  high,  unenclosed 
mangnificence,  and  the  other  mountain,  called  by  the  Indians  'Puskehouse' 
(Eainier)  bore  E.  X.  E.,  at  summit  divided  into  rounded  eminences, 
with  a  narrow,  intervening  hollow,  to  form  suggesting  the  vulgar  compari- 
son with  that  of  Dunl)arton  rock  for  ages  has  been  the  highest  and  most 
easterly  eminence,  and  has  a  black,  precipitous  face,  while  the  remainder  is 
nestled  in  snow.  The  ascent  seems  most  practical  to  the  S.  E.,  by  which  the 
precipice  is  avoided." 

The  close  trading  connection  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company  with  the 
Indians  of  all  tribes  makes  this  the  most  authoritative  testimony  in  the  world. 

If  any  name  has  a  claim  to  be  perpetuated  after  Eainier,  that  name  is  most 
certainly  Puskehouse. 

ANOTHER  INDIAN  NAME 

Other  competent  authorities  have  stated  that  Tacoma  was  not  the  Indian 
name  of  the  mountain,  and  have  advanced  other  names  which  are  Indian.    F. 

14 


H.  Whitworth  came  to  Washington  Territory  in  the  year  1854  and  has  been  a 
resident  of  that  territory  and  state  ever  since,  and  for  a  number  of  years  was 
interpreter  for  the  Superinteijdency  of  Indian  Affairs  for  Washington,  while 
C.  H.  Hale  and  Mr.  Waterman  were  Superintendents  of  Indian  Affairs  during 
the  administrations  of  Presidents  Lincoln  and  Johnson.  At  that  time  Mr. 
Whitworth's  father.  Rev.  George  F.  Whitworth,  was  president  of  the  University 
of  Washington,  and  he  was  also  the  founder  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Seattle.  F.  H.  Whitworth  further  was  instructor  in  that  institution  for  a 
number  of  years.  By  profession  he  is  a  civil  engineer,  and  his  duties  have  given 
him  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  territory  and  state.  Mr.  Whitworth 
states  as  follows: 

"In  all  that  time  I  have  never  heard  the  mountain  referred  to  by 
them  (the  Indians)  as  anything  but  'Stiquak'  (or  'Tiswauk'),  'Lanier'  (R 
is  L  on  an  Indian's  tongue),  or  'Lalemite'  (the  mountain).  I  have  never 
heard  the  name  Tacoma  applied  to  the  mountain  by  any  Indian ;  nor 
had  I  ever  heard  tliis  name  applied  to  the  moimtain  by  any  white  man 
until  after  the  publication  of  Theodore  Winthrop's  Canoe  and  Saddle." 
(See  affidavit  of  F.  H.  Whitworth.) 

CONFIRMATION  OF  TISWAUK 

Samuel  L.  Crawford  was  a  native  of  Oregon  and  resided  in  the  Territory 
and  State  of  Washington  from  earliest  youth.  He  was  a  pioneer  journalist  and 
until  the  time  of  his  death  last  year  one  of  the  leading  authorities  on  historical 
matters  in  the  Pacific  Northwest  and  an  ex-president  of  the  Pioneers'  Associa- 
tion of  Washington.  In  an  interview  with  him  published  in  the  Seattle 
Post-Intelligencer,  March  13,  1916,  he  recites  that  in  early  days  in  Olympia 
Peter  Stanup  and  he  were  employed  on  the  Olympia  Echo,  and  were  close 
friends  through  life;  that  Stanup  was  tlie  son  of  Jonas,  a  sub-chief  of  the 
Puyallup  Indians  and  was  doubtless  the  best  educated  Indian  on  Puget  Sound. 
(The  Tacoma  Ledger,  Friday,  July  7,  1882,  submitted  herewith,  confirms  this 
estimate  in  these  words :  "Much  interest  was  added  to  the  occasion  by  an  ora- 
tion delivered  by  P.  C.  Stanup,  probably  the  best  educated  and  most  intelligent 
young  Indian  on  the  Pacific  Coast".)  Mr.  Crawford  stated  that  Peter  Stanup 
studied  for  the  Presbyterian  ministry,  preached  for  seven  years,  also  studied 
law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  ,  Crawford  then  says: 

"Peter  told  me  long  before  Tacoma  (the  city)  was  really  on  the 
map  or  before  the  name  Rainier  had  ever  been  challenged  that  the 
Indian  name  of  the  mountain  was  'Tiswa.uk,'  and  that  all  snow-clad 
mountain  ranges  were  called  'Tacobed.'  The  Puyallups  were,  of  course, 
the  nearest  tribe  to  the  mountain,  living  almost  in  its  shadow,  and  they 
and  visiting  tribes  called  it  'Tiswauk,'  Peter  said. 

"In  later  years,  when  the  controversy  about  the  name  of  the  mountain 
had  arisen,  Peter  advised  me  that  there  was  nothing  to  the  claim  that 
the  Indian  name  of  the  mountain  was  Tacoma;  that  Tacoma  is  not  an 

15 


Indian  name  and  that  no  Indian  could  pronounce  it.  No  one  ever  heard 
the  name  applied  to  the  mountain  until  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
entered  Tacoma  in  1873,  except  the  few  who  had  read  Winthrop's  'Canoe 
and  Saddle.'  *  *  *I  am  fond  of  Indian  nomenclature,  and  to  settle 
the  controversy  would  agree  to  what  I  have  no  doubt  is  the  old  Indian 
name,  'Tiswauk.'"  (See  affidavit  of  C.  T.  Conover  and  the  manuscript 
biography  of  S.  L.  Crawford.) 

AND  STILL  ANOTHER  INDIAN  NAME 

Puskehouse,  Stiquak  and  Tiswauk  have  still  another  rival  for  the  right 
to  the  Indian  title,  as  note  the  following  from  the  Washington  State  Historical 
Society  publications,  volume  II,  page  444: 

"Bellingham,  Wash.,  March  31,  1908. 
"Benjamin  L.  Harvey,  Esq.,  2612  N.  Puget  Sound  Ave,  Tacoma,  Wash. 
"Dear  Sir:  Since  I  wrote  you  the  other  day  I  have  talked  with 
Father  Boulet,  the  missionary  I  mentioned,  who  has  spent  the  greater 
part  of  his  lifetime  among  the  various  tribes  of  Indians  on  Puget  Sound. 
As  I  told  you  his  version  of  the  matter  of  names  applied  to  the  moun- 
tains along  the  coast,  I  should  regard  as  authentic.  He  tells  me  the 
word  'Ta-ho-ma'  does  not  mean  'the  great  mountain',  but  'White  Rock' ; 
that  it  was  the  Indian  name  for  Mount  Baker,  and  was  applied  to  this 
mountain  exclusively.  The  name  applied  to  the  mountain  southeast  of 
Tacoma  by  the  Puyallup  Indians  was  'Tu-ah-ku',  the  meaning  of  which 
I  have  forgotten,  if  indeed  it  was  given  to  me.  The  discussion  of  the 
ancient  Indian  lore  is  beginning  to  interest  me,  and  I  shall  take  occasion 
to  ascertain  the  meaning  of  this  last  word  when  next  I  meet  the  old 
missionary. 

"Yours  very  truly, 

"Ross  Welch,  Secretary." 

In  the  same  volume,  page  458,  is  a  letter  from  the  late  Thomas  W.  Prosch, 
founder  of  the  Pacific  Tribune  in  Tacoma,  and  until  his  death  a  leading 
authority  on  historical  matters  in  Washington.  This  extract  from  said  letter 
is  to  some  extent  confirmatory  of  the  Welch  letter: 

i(*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  It  is  new  to  me 
that  Baker  was  Tahoma,  and  probably  is  or  will  be  to  other  citizens.  That 
Rainier  was  Tuahku  among  the  Indians  has  at  least  partial  confirmation 
in  one  quarter.  Myron  Eells,  one  of  the  best  informed  and  most  consci- 
entious of  our  writers  upon  such  subjects,  in  an  article  published  in  the 
American  Anthropologist  for  January,  1892,  said: 

"  'A  very  intelligent  Puyallup  Indian,  whose  reservation  is  near  the 
foot  of  the  rnountain,  told  me  that  it  means  "the  mountain",  being  pro- 
nounced by  his  people  "Takoha",  but  that  this  was  not  the  name  by  which 
the  Indians  originallv  called  it,  as  their  name  was  "Tuwaku"  or  "Twah- 
wauk." ' " 

This  letter  was  addressed  to  Benjamin  L.  Harvey,  Tacoma,  and  was  dated 
September  18,  1908. 

16 


TACOMA  NOT  A  GENUINE  INDIAN  WORD  OF 
PUGET  SOUND 

Dr.  Charles  Milton  Buchanan,  for  twenty-five  years  superintendent  at  the 
Tulalip  Indian  Eeservation,  Tulalip,  Wash.,  conceded  by  Prof.  Edmond  S. 
Meany,  professor  of  history  of  the  University  of  Washington,  to  be  the  best 
living  authority  on  Indian  languages  and  who  is  the  author  of  many  ethno- 
logical works,  in  a  letter  to  Benj.  L.  Harvey,  Tacoma,  Wash.,  under  date  of 
April  Iv,  1908,  writes: 

"I  do  not  believe  that  the  word  'Tacoma"  is  known  to  any  of  the 
native  tribes  of  the  Puget  Sound  region  as,  generically,  a  genuine  Indian 
word  of  this  region.  I  have  commonly  believed  it  to  be  (even  before  I 
knew  of  the  claims  of  the  city  of  Tacoma,  Washington)  an  Indian  word  of 
Algonquian  origin,  and  by  the  Algonquian  stock  applied  to  objects  of 
unusual  altitude,  or,  as  some  of  them  express  it,  'almost  up  to  the  sky'  or 
'almost  up  to  heaven'.  You  will  find  that  Tacoma.  Washington,  is  very, 
very  far  indeed  from  being  either  the  first  or  the  only  possessor  of  the 
right  to  and  use  of  this  name.  You  will  find  a  Tacoma  in  Florida,  and 
in  Virginia,  as  well  as  in  Washington.  You  will  find  a  Tacoma  in  N"evada, 
and  a  Tekome  in  Nebraska — you  will  even  find  a  Tacoma  in  Mexico.  In 
this  connection  it  is  to  be  recalled  that  Indian  orthography  is  far  from 
being  absolute,  since  few,  if  any,  Indian  tongues  are  written  tongues  per 
se,  and  such  spelling  as  exists  is  the  effort  (more  often  faulty  than  other- 
wise) of  the  white  man  to  express  (in  his  way)  an  Indian  word.  It  will 
therefore  readily  occur  to  you  that  the  word  Tacoma  is  very  far  from 
having  any  particular  or  peculiar  local  significance  so  far  as  this  vicinity 
or  state  may  be  concerned. 

"The  Puyallup  Indians  and  the  Tulalip  Indians  both  speak  dialectic 
variants  of  the  Niskwalli  linguistic  root  stock,  which  is  in  turn  a  variant 
of  the  Salishan  stock.  What  the  Puyallup  word  for  Tacoma  is,  or  for 
Mt.  Rainier  is,  I  do  not  know.  I  have  long  been  unable  to  ascertain  that 
the  Tulalip  Indians  have  ever  had  any  special  word  for  Rainier,  other 
than  to  speak  of  it  as  the  'mountain'  or  'the  mountain'.  Their  word  for 
mountain  is  'sbah-det'.  Their  word  for  the  place  where  Tacoma  (the  city 
of  Tacoma)  stands  was  'Shu-bal-lup'  (accent  the  second  syllable),  which 
means,  literally,  a  dry  place,  such  as  one  might  find  under  a  tree.  With 
few  exceptions  the  word  'Tacoma'  and  its  variant  forms  and  spellings  will 
be  found  either  in  Algonquian  territory  (past  or  present)  or  somewhat 
adjacent  thereto — or  carried  from  either.  Winthrop  was  born  in,  lived  in, 
and  died  in  territory  subject  to  such  conditions. 

"The  Government  official  who  wrote  you  that  the  word  'Tacoma' 
meant  'Great  Mountain'  probably  had  in  mind  the  Algonquian  meaning 
of  the  word  referred  to  above,  as  such  would  be  a  legitimate  application 
and  use  of  the  word  apparently. 

"I  have  also  heard,  on  good  authority  (by  this  I  mean  Indian  author- 
ity, since  it  is  on  a  subject  concerning  which  an  intelligent  Indian  would 
probably  be  a  better  authority  than  even  an  intelligent  white  man)  that 
some  of  the  tribes  north  of  us  (allied  to  the  Clallams  and  the  Lummis) 
used  the  word  'Tah-hoh-mah'  (or  a  very  similar  word)  for  Mount  Baker, 

17 


and  that  it  was  so  used  for  Mount  Baker  exclusively.  This  corroborates 
the  statement  of  the  Reverend  Father  Boulet,  and  also  practically  cor- 
roborates the  statement  of  your  aforesaid  U.  S.  Government  official. 

"I  have  heard  the  Eeverend  Father  Hylebos,  of  Tacoma,  Washington, 
state  that  the  word  'Tacoma"  referred  to  the  mountain  'Rainier'  and  that 
it  consisted  of  'Tah-hoh-mah',  meaning  'the  frozen  water'  (snow).  The 
allusion  is  obvious.     I  do  not  agree  with  the  Father,  however. 

WINTHROP  FIRST  TO  USE  TACOMA 

"My  own  opinion  is  that  Winthrop  was  the  first  to  actually  use  the 
written  word  'Tacoma'  with  a  local  application,  and  that  in  so  doing 
he  probably  confused  the  better  known  Algonquian  word  with  the  word 
used  exclusively  for  Mount  Baker — or  else  that  he  knowingly  and  de- 
liberately created  fiction  rather  than  chronicled  fact."  (See  copies  of  cor- 
respondence herewith,  verified  by  Dr.  Buchanan.) 

In  the  Washington  State  Historical  Society  publications,  Vol.  II,  page 
454,  is  a  letter  from  Dr.  Charles  M.  Buchanan,  superintendent  of  tlie  Tulalip 
Indian  Agency,  to  Benjamin  L.  Harvey,  of  Tacoma,  from  which  this  extract 
is  taken : 

"About  the  middle  of  page  23  is  a  very  amusing  explanation  claim- 
ing that  'Tacoma'  is  derived  from  'ta'  (the)  'ko'  (water)  and  'ma'  (to 
scatter  like  snow).  I  heard  Rev.  Father  Hylebos  make  this  same  state- 
ment in  August,  1906.  Xow  'ta'  in  Indian  is  not  an  article,  but  a 
demonstrative  pronoun  indicating  an  object  particularly  pointed  out.  'Ko' 
is  used  by  the  Indians  to  indicate  drinking  water — that  is,  water  that  is 
palatable.  I  can  give  a  fanciful  explanation  just  as  romantic  as  the 
above — far  more  plausible — and  just  as  untrue.  Bear  in  mind  that  the 
Indian  word  for  'father'  is  'ban',  or  'bad',  and  remember  also  that  'b'  and 
'm'  and  'p'  are  svnonvmous  and  interchangeable.  What  is  the  matter 
with  'tah'  (that)'  'koii'  (water)  and  'man',  or  'mad'  (father)— 'that 
father  of  drinking  water'  (remember  that  the  glaciers  of  the  mountain 
feed  the  fresh-water  streams  radiating  from  the  mountain)  ?  Isn't  it 
plausible?  But  it  is  all  made  out  of  whole  cloth,  and  is  purely  imagi- 
nary." 

"McCarver  and  Tacoma",  by  Thomas  W.  Prosch,  General  McCarver's 
son-in-law,  page  166,  says: 

The  only  living  participants  connected  with  the  bestowal  of  the  name 
(i.  e.  Tacoma),  are  Samuel  Hadlock  and  James  Steel.  A  letter  is  then  given 
from  Hadlock,  dated  Januarj'  30,  1905,  from  which  the  follo^ving  extract 
is  made: 

"Just  before  starting  for  Portland,  General  McCarver  got  Mr.  Acker- 
son,  myself,  and  Starr  together,  and  asked  how  we  would  like  the  name 
Tacoma  for  the  tx)wn.  I  had  no  objection  to  the  name.  *  *  *  That 
was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  the  name  Tacoma,  and  I  believed  General 
McCarver  to  have  been  the  author  of  it." 

18 


"TACOMA"  UNHEARD  OF  BEFORE  WINTHROP'S  VISIT 

The  following  are  extracts  from  a  letter  from  Thomas  W.  Prosch  to 
Benjamin  L.  Harvey,  of  Tacoma,  under  date  of  September  11,  1908,  from  the 
Washington  State  Historical  Society  publications,  page  457: 

"I  would  be  glad  to  gratify  you  in  the  matter  of  the  word  or  name 
Tacoma  if  I  were  able,  but  I  am  afraid  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  do  so. 

"My  first  knowledge  of  the  word  came  in  1866,  when  I  had  been  a 
resident  of  Steilacoom  eight  years  and  when  it  was  adopted  as  the  name 
of  a  Good  Templar  Lodge  in  Olympia.  I  feel  quite  sure  that  prior  to 
that  time  Tacoma  had  never  appeared  in  any  Washington  Territory  pub- 
lication and  I  feel  equally  sure  that  it  never  appeared  in  print  anywhere 
until  the  coming  of  Theodore  Winthrop's  'Canoe  and  Saddle'  in  1863. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  it  in  any  of  the  written  letters,  diaries,  narra- 
tives, or  the  prints  of  the  Territory  or  Nation.  None  of  the  early  repre- 
sentatives of  the  British  or  American  Governments — Vancouver,  Lewis 
and  Clarke,  Wilkes,  Elijah  White,  Fremont  et  al. — seem  to  have  heard 
of  it,  though  it  was  directly  in  their  line,  and  so  also  may  be  said  of  the 
first  missionaries,  the  Hudson  Bay  men,  the  Governor  Stevens  expedition, 
the  settlers  of  fifty  and  sixty  years  ago,  no  one,  so  far  as  I  have  learned, 
wrote  the  word,  put  it  in  type,  or  otherwise  used  it  before  Winthrop.  I 
do  not  mean  to  say  with  Meeker,  that  Winthrop  coined  the  word.  He  may 
have  heard  it,  or  something  like  it,  among  the  Indians,  and  he  used  it 
in  his  'Canoe  and  Saddle'  book.  Winthrop  was  a  stranger,  a  mere  passer- 
through,  and  it  must  have  been  difficult  for  him  to  communicate  intelli- 
gently with  the  savages  about  him.  If  you  don't  think  so,  try  it  on  with 
an  Indian,  even  now,  who  cannot  speak  the  English,  which  was  the  case 
with  the  Indians  generally  in  his  day.  He  also  wrote  his  book  several 
years  afterward,  and  then  with  the  help  of  a  Chinook  jargon  dictionary. 
i  only  mean  to  say  that  the  word  was  not  in  use  on  Puget  Sound  before 
1866,  and  that  after  it  came  to  us  but  few  of  us  for  a  number  of  years 
knew  its  alleged  meaning.  The  knowledge  was  spread  rapidly,  however, 
after  the  name  Tacoma  was  given  to  the  town  on  Commencement  Bay  by 
General  McCarver." 

Note: — Mr.   Prosch  was  General  McCarver's  son-in-law. 

Aside  from  the  "Tiswauk"  or  "Stiquak"  of  F.  H.  Whitworth,  Indian 
William,  Samuel  L.  Crawford  and  Peter  C.  Stanup,  and  the  "Puskehouse" 
of  William  Eraser  Tolmie,  and  Tu-ah-ku,  of  Father  Boulet,  there  is  an  entire 
absence  of  any  knowledge  of  any  Indian  names  for  Mt.  Rainier,  and  an  abso- 
lute denial  of  an  Indian  name  on  the  part  of  many  competent  authorities. 

DENIAL  OF  A  SPECIFIC  INDIAN  NAME 

D.  T.  Denny  was  one  of  the  original  settlers  of  the  City  of  Seattle,  locating 
there  in  1851.  He  was  a  man  of  great  probity,  high  intelligence,  and  became 
the  close  friend  of  the  Indians.  He  became  conversant  with  their  language 
talked  to  them  in  their  native  tongue  and  was  recognized  as  their  devoted 
friend.    He  interpreted  for  them  in  cases  of  necessity.    In  a  letter  to  the  Seattle 

19 


Post-Intelligencer,  dated  December  4,  1902,  he  says:  "Coming  to  the  country 
when  young,  I  readily  learned  the  Chinook  jargon  and  in  process  of  time 
learned  to  understand  and  speak  the  native  Indian  language  common  on  Puget 
Sound.  I  have  made  careful  inquiries  of  the  Indians  in  regard  to  their  name 
for  Mount  Eainier  and  I  have  found  that  their  name  was  Taeobed,  which  really 
means  'Snow  Mountain',  and  I  understand  that  the  name  Taeobed  applies  to 
any  mountain  perpetually  covered  by  snow.  For  instance,  Mt.  Hood,  Mt.  St. 
Helens,  Mt.  Adams,  Mt.  Eainier  or  Mt.  Baker  would  be  designated  as 
Taeobed."    (See  photographic  copy.) 

jMrs.  Louisa  Boren  Denny,  widow  of  said  David  T.  Denny  and  since  de- 
ceased, was  interviewed  by  C.  T.  Conover  and  said  interview  was  published  in 
the  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer  March  13,  1916,  in  these  words:  "What  do  they 
want  to  change  the  name  of  the  mountain  for  ?  They  might  as  well  change  the 
name  of  the  Sound,  which  was  also  named  for  a  Britisher.  No,  I  never  heard 
the  name  Tacoma  until  comparatively  recent  years.  In  the  early  days  I  used 
to  talk  with  the  Indians  a  great  deal,  and  I  am  sure  that  if  they  had  called  the 
mountain  Tacoma  I  should  have  known  it.  They  gave  the  name  Taeobed  to 
Mt.  Baker,  Mt.  Rainier,  and  all  ranges  of  snow  mountains  in  the  vicinity.  I 
know  distinctly  tha.t  Chief  Sealth,  who  was  one  of  the  most  intelligent  Indians, 
always  used  the  white  man's  name.  Rainier,  and  in  the  early  days  we  nevei* 
knew  any  other  name.  I  never  knew  of  any  Indian  name  for  any  specific 
mountain."     (See  affidavit  of  C.  T.  Conover.) 

David  Graham,  aged  81  years,  testified  that  he  had  resided  continuously 
in  the  Puget  Sound  country'  since  1857,  that  in  the  early  days  he  was  a  school 
teacher  and  was  engaged  in  vocations  that  took  him  about  the  country  a  great 
deal,  especially  in  Pierce  and  Thurston  counties,  and  that  never  did  he  hear 
the  mountain  called  anything  but  Rainier;  that  in  his  judgment  there  is  no 
more  justification  for  the  use  of  the  word  Tacoma  in  this  connection  than  there 
was  for  the  attempt  to  name  the  State  of  Washington  Tacoma  when  it  was 
admitted  to  statehood.  Mr.  Graham  is  a  high  type  of  the  pioneer,  and  no  man 
in  the  State  of  Washington  has  a  better  reputation  for  integrity  and  character. 
(See  his  affidavit.) 

L.  W.  Bonney,  elder  brother  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Washington  State 
Historical  Society,  testified  that  he  is  the  son  of  Sherwood  S.  Bonney,  who  set- 
tled in  Pierce  County,  in  which  the  city  of  Tacoma  is  located,  in  1853,  and  that 
the  greater  portion  of  his  life  has  been  lived  in  sight  of  Mt.  Rainier ;  that  he 
never  heard  the  mountain  called  by  any  other  name  than  Rainier  by  either 
Indians  or  whites  until  about  1878,  or  until  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company's  terminus  was  located  at  Tacoma.     (See  his  affidavit.) 

Cornelius  H.  Hanford,  for  twenty-three  years  judge  of  the  United  States 

20 


District  Court  in  the  State  of  Washington,  and  an  eminent  historical  author- 
ity, says: 

"I  have  lived  in  the  territory  and  state  of  Washington  since  the  year 
1854,  and  so  far  as  I  have  any  knowledge  the  mountain  was  known  by  no 
other  name  than  Eainier  prior  to  tlie  time  of  the  location  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  terminus  on  Commencement  Bay  in  1873 ;  except  that  in  Theodore 
Winthrop's  book,  'The  Canoe  and  the  Saddle',  that  writer  originated  the 
name  'Tacoma.' 

''If  an  Indian  ever  gave  that  word  or  any  word  having  a  similarity 
of  sound  he  probably  meant  to  say  'Tacope  Butte',  Tacope  being  a  word 
of  the  Chinook  jargon  which  means  white  and  butte  means  hill  or  moun- 
tain. The  designation  white  hill  would  probably  be  given  by  any  Indian 
in  lieu  of  a  particular  name  for  any  snow-covered  mountain."  (See 
statement  of  Cornelius  H.  Hanford.) 

TACOMA  NOT  AN  INDIAN  WORD  OF  THE  NORTHWEST 

William  Bishop,  one  of  the  largest  dairy  ranchers  and  breeders  of  blooded 
stock  in  the  State  of  Washington,  testifies  as  follows: 

"That  he  is  fifty-five  years  of  age,  was  born  and  has  lived  his  life  in 
Jefferson  county,  state  of  Washington ;  tliat  his  mother  was  a  full-blooded 
Indian  of  the  Snohomish  tribe ;  that  he  is  especially  familiar  with  matters 
of  Indian  history,  and  is  and  has  been  for  a. period  of  ten  years  a  member 
of  the  house  of  representatives  of  the  state  of  Washington  from  the  County 
of  Jefferson. 

"That  there  never  has  been  a  specific  Indian  name  for  Mount  Eainier ; 
that  all  the  Puget  Sound  Indians  called  Mount  Olympus,  Mount  Baker, 
Mount  St.  Helens,  Mount  Rainier,  Mount  Adams,  and  all  the  high  snow 
peaks,  'Tahoma',  meaning  high  mountain.  The  Nisqually  and  Klickitat 
Indians,  having  a  more  gutteral  pronunciation,  used  the  word  'Tacobet' 
for  all  high  peaks,  the  difference  being  purely  a  matter  of  pronunciation. 

"That  the  word  'Tacoma'  is  not  a  word  in  any  Indian  language  of 
the  Pacific  northwest,  and  that  no  Puget  Sound  Indian  could  pronounce 
the  word  'Tacoma'."     (See  his  affidavit.) 

GENERAL  KAUTZ,  WHO  MADE  FIRST  ASCENT  USES 

NAME  RAINIER 

Brigadier  General  A.  V.  Kautz,  who  was  stationed  at  Fort  Steilacoom  in 
the  fifties,  made  the  first  successful  ascent  of  Rainier  in  1857.  In  his  account 
of  the  ascent  in  the  Overland  Monthly,  May,  1875,  he  says: 

"I  was  at  that  time  a  first  lieutenant,  young,  and  fond  of  visiting 
unexplored  sections  of  the  country,  and  possessed  of  a  very  prevailing 
passion  for  going  to  the  tops  of  high  places.  My  quarters  fronted  Mount 
Rainier,  which  is  about  60  miles  nearly  east  of  Fort  Steilacoom  in  an  air 
line.  On  a  clear  day  it  does  not  look  more  than  10  miles  off  and  looms 
up  against  the  eastern  sky  white  as  the  snow  with  which  it  is  covered, 
with  a  perfectly  clear  middle  outline,  except  at  the  top,  which  is  slightly 

21 


rounded  and  broken.  It  is  a  grand  and  inspiring  view  and  I  had  expressed 
so  often  my  determination  to  make  the  ascent  that  my  fellow-officers 
became  incredulous  and  gave  to  all  improbable  and  doubtful  events  a  date 
of  occurrence  when  I  should  ascend  Mount  Eainier." 

He  mentions  no  other  name  for  the  mountain  than  Rainier  throughout 
the  narrative.  In  honor  of  General  Kautz's  achievement  one  of  the  great 
glaciers  on  the  moimtain's  side  was  named  Kautz  glacier. 

MOUNTAIN  RENAMED  AFTER  THE  CITY 

Ellwood  Evans,  an  eminent  Tacoma  lawyer  and  historian,  possessor  of 
one  of  the  greatest  historical  collections  in  the  Xorthwest,  and  who  died  in 
Tacoma  many  years  ago,  states  in  his  History  of  the  Pacific  N'orthwest.  Port- 
land, 1889,  II,  p.  153: 

"By  the  latter  appellation  (Eainier)  it  was  known  to  all  the  early 
settlers  up  to  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  Xorthern  Pacific  Railroad 
to  Tacoma.  The  railroad  company  then  renamed  the  mountain  after  the 
city,  claiming  that  to  be  the  original  word  designating  its  title.  The 
truth  of  the  matter  is,  however,  that  the  Puyallup  Indians  inhabiting 
the  region,  called  all  snowy  peaks  by  the  same  name — Tak-ho-ma — the 
meaning  of  which,  according  to  the  translation,  is  'the  breast  that  feeds' ; 
meaning  to  convey  the  idea  that  from  the  eternal  snows  come  the  perennial 
water  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Sound.'' 

INDIANS  TAKE  CUE  FROM  WHITES 

P^zra  Meeker  settled  in  the  environs  of  the  present  city  of  Tacoma.  in 
1853,  and  from  earliest  days  has  been  the  firm  friend  and  confidant  of  the 
Indians.  He  conversed  with  them  in  the  native  language,  and  in  defense  of 
one  of  their  chiefs  wrote  a  five  hundred  and  fifty  page  volume  entitled,  "Pio- 
neer Reminiscences  of  Puget  Sound,  or  the  Tragedy  of  Leschi."  On  page 
179  he  says: 

"We  have  a  like  curious  phenomenon  in  the  case  of  Winthrop  first 
writing  the  word  Tacoma  in  September,  1853.  None  of  the  old  settlers 
had  heard  that  name,  either  through  the  Indians  or  otherwise,  until  after 
the  publication  of  Winthrop's  work  ten  years  later,  'The  Canoe  and  the 
Saddle',  when  it  became  common  knowledge  and  was  locally  applied  in 
Olympia  as  early  as  1866,  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  Edward  Giddings 
of  that  place. 

"However,  as  Winthrop  distinctly  claims  to  have  obtained  the  word 
from  the  Indians,  the  fact  was  accepted  by  the  reading  public,  and  the 
Indians  soon  took  their  cue  from  their  white  neighbors. 

"It  is  an  interesting  coincidence  that  almost  within  a  stone's  throw 
of  where  Winthrop  coined  the  name,  that  we  find  it  applied  to  the  locality 
that  has  grown  to  be  the  great  city  of  Tacoma." 

Supporting  the  theory  of  Ezra  Meeker,  that  'I'acoma  was  a  word  incor- 

22 


porated  into  the  Indian  language  from  the  whites,  is  a  letter  from  Dr.  Charles 
M.  Buchanan,  Superintendent  of  the  Tulalip  Indian  Agency,  to  Benjamin  L. 
Harvey,  dated  April  22,  1908  (Proceedings  of  Washington  State  Historical 
Society,  page  449),  from  which  this  extract  is  taken: 

"When  I  stated  to  you  that  I  did  not  know  the  Puyallup  Indian  word 
for  the  mountain  Eainier,  I  had  in  mind  the  word  'Ta-ko-bid',  or  'Tah- 
koh-buh',  (as  some  pronounce  it),  but  I  have  never  considered  that  a 
genuine  Indian  word,  but  merely  the  Indian  attempt  to  say  the  word 
'Tacoma.'  Several  very  intelligent  Indians  (some  of  the  most  intelligent 
and  reliable  I  have  ever  known)  agree  with  me  in  the  belief  that  it  is 
merely  an  Indian  attempt  to  say  a  word  that  they  have  heard  the  whites 
use,  and  this  appears  to  confirm  Meeker.'' 

Thomas  W.  Prosch,  in  a  letter  to  Benjamin  L.  Harvey,  dated  September 
18,  1908,  Washington  State  Historical  Society  Publications,  Vol.  11,  page 
459,  along  the  same  line  says: 

"*  *  *  At  any  rate,  the  Indians  were  always  ready  to  adopt  for 
themselves  the  personal  names  given  them  by  the  whites,  and  even  more 
freely  gave  up  their  local  names  for  the  names  substituted  by  the  white 
men." 

Holland  H.  Denny,  aged  sixty-five  years,  was  born  on  Puget  Sound  and  is 
the  son  of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  in  Western  Washington.  He  is  a  man  of 
high  character  and  a  leader  in  all  important  movements  in  the  state.  He  tes- 
tifies that  he  never  heard  the  name  "Tacoma"  until  the  town  of  Tacoma  was 
established ;  that  tJie  word  "Tacobed"  was  applied  by  the  Indians  to  all  high 
mountains,  but  that  he  is  firmly  convinced  that  Tacoma  is  not  a  word  of  the 
Indian  language  and  was  coined  by  Theodore  Winthrop.  (See  affidavit  of 
Rolland  H.  Denny.) 

Edward  L.  Terr}-,  treasurer  of  the  City  of  Seattle,  was  bom  54  years  ago 
in  said  city,  and  is  the  son  of  one  of  the  pioneers  and  founders  of  that  place; 
he  had  never  heard  the  word  "Tacoma",  either  as  applied  to  the  mountain  or 
otherwise  by  Indians  or  whites  until  after  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
Company  made  its  terminus  at  the  present  city  of  Tacoma,  and  is  positive  that 
no  student  of  the  University  of  Washington  had  ever  heard  the  name  in  any 
connection  prior  to  that  time.     (See  affidavit  of  Edward  L.  Terry.) 

LEGEND  BY  WINTHROP 

Harvey  W.  Scott,  late  editor  of  the  Portland  Oregonian,  was  recognized  as 
the  ablest  editor  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  with  historical  knowledge  not  surpassed 
by  anyone  in  his  time.  He  spent  his  early  years  in  Washington  Territory.  In 
the  Oregonian  in  an  article  reprinted  in  the  Tacoma  Daily  Neivs  of  April  1, 
1884,  he  says: 

"To  the  imagination  of  Theodore  Winthrop  the  word  'Tacoma*,  or  at 

23 


least  its  perpetuation,  is  due.  The  story  about  Mount  Rainier  which  he 
dressed  up  as  a  legend,  calling  it  'Taconia',  has  given  a  name  to  an  im- 
portant and  growing  town  and  may  give  the  name  to  a  state',  etc.  (See 
photographic  copy.) 

"NOTHING  LESS  THAN  A  SACRILEGE" 

"The  Rise  and  Progress  of  an  American  State",  by  Clinton  A.  Snowden, 
of  Tacoma,  Vol.  4,  page  251,  says: 

"The  newspapers  and  people  of  Oregon  joined  this  opposition.  The 
attempt  to  change  the  ancient  name  of  the  majestic  mountain  was  de- 
clared to  be  nothing  less  than  a  sacrilege.  It  was  simply  a  scheme  of  a  lot 
of  real  estate  boomers  and  speculators  to  turn  a  great  world  landmark 
into  an  advertisement,  to  reduce  sublimity  itself  to  the  level  of  a  sign- 
board. The  name  'Tacoma'  was  nothing  but  the  invention  of  a  dreamer, 
a  brilliant  dreamer,  doubtless,  but  a  dreamer  nevertheless.  It  had  never 
been  the  Indian  name  of  the  mountain.  The  Indians  had  no  names  for 
mountains  or  other  landmarks  distinguishing  one  from  another.  To  them 
a  mountain  was  a  mountain,  and  a  river  was  a  river,  and  that's  all 
there  was  to  it.  A  primrose  by  a  rivers  brim  a  yellow  primrose  was  to 
and  nothing  more. 

"The  newspapers  of  Tacoma — of  which  there  were  two — and  the 
people  of  the  town  stood  sturdily  for  the  change  and  made  such  a  fight  for 
it  as  they  were  able.  The  two  papers  were  issued  only  weekly  as  yet,  but 
in  time,  as  the  town  grew  and  prospered  and  when  daily  editions  appeared, 
the  battle  raged  hotly.  The  Indians  were  appealed  to  for  evidence  on  both 
sides,  and,  after  their  custom,  generally  furnished  something  that  was 
satisfactory  to  both.  Edward  Huggins,  last  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  factors, 
who  had  lived  for  thirty  years  among  them,  declared  that  he  had  never 
heard  them  speak  of  the  mountain  by  any  other  name  than  'La  monte', 
which  was  tlie  Chinook  name  for  it.  But  Mrs.  Huggins,  who  was  a 
daughter  of  John  Work  and  had  been  bom  on  the  coast,  had  been  told  by 
old  Schlousin,  or  Sehlouskin,  that  the  mountain's  name  was  Tachkoma, 
'but  he  couldn't  give  any  further  infonnation  as  to  why  it  was  so  named 
other  than  that  anything  or  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  mountain  or 
large  mound  covered  witli  snow  was  named  Tachkoma  or  Tacobah.'  (See 
Edward  Huggins'  Mss.  for  this  quotation  from  Mrs.  Huggins.)  They 
also  pronounced  it  Tahoma  or  Tacobet,  according  to  their  several  peculiar- 
ities of  dialect." 

Thomas  W.  Prosch,  publisher  of  the  pioneer  newspaper  of  Tacoma,  The 
Pacific  Tribune,  and  son-in-law  of  General  M.  F.  McCarver,  the  founder  and 
namer  of  Tacoma,  says  in  his  biography  entitled,  "McCarver  and  Tacoma", 
page  164 : 

"It  is  only  historically  fair  to  say  that  these  names  (which  Winthrop 
bestowed,  including  Tacoma),  were  unknown  to  the  white  people  until 
after  the  publication  of  this  book  ('Canoe  and  Saddle'),  and  unknown 
in  our  own  territory  until  1886." 

In  the  Atlantic  Monthly  for  Xovember,  1876,  was  an  article  by  General 

24 


Hazard  Stevens,  son  of  Isaac  I.  Stevens,  the  first  Governor  of  the  Territory 
of  Washington,  descriptive  of  his  ascent  in  1870  of  Mount  Eainier. 

Eeferring  to  Vancouver's  exploration  of  the  North  Pacific  country  he 
says : 

'•'When  Vancouver,  in  1792,  penetrated  the  Straits  of  Fuca  and  ex- 
plored the  unknown  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  of  the  Pacific,  wherever 
he  sailed,  from  the  Gulf  of  Georgia  to  the  farthest  inlet  of  Puget  Sound, 
he  beheld  the  lofty  snow-clad  barrier  range  of  the  Cascades,  stretching 
North  and  South,  and  bounding  the  Eastern  horizon.  Towering  at  twice 
the  altitude  of  all  others,  at  intervals  of  100  miles,  there  loomed  up  above 
the  range  three  majestic,  snowy  peaks. 

"  'Like  giants  stand 

To  sentinel  enchanted  land.' 

"In  the  matter-of-fact  spirit  of  a  British  sailor  of  his  time,  he 
named  these  sublime  monuments  of  nature  in  honor  of  three  lords  of 
English  Admiralty — Hood,  Eainier,  and  Baker.  Of  these  Eainier  is  the 
central,  situated  about  half  way  between  the  Columbia  Eiver  and  the  line 
of  British  Columbia,  and  is  by  far  the  loftiest  and  largest",  etc.,  etc. 

STEVENS  SAYS  TAKHOMA  IS  A  GENERIC  TERM 

Stevens  then  refers  to  the  name  "Takhoma"and  in  a  foot-note  says : 

Tak-homa  or  Ta-homa  among  the  Yakimas,  Klickitats,  Puyallups, 
Nisquallys,  and  allied  tribes  of  Indians  is  the  generic  term  for  mountain, 
used  precisely  as  we  used  the  word  'Mount',  as  Takhoma  Wynatchie,  or 
Mount  Wynatchie.  But  they  all  designate  Eainier  simply  as  Takhoma, 
or  the  Mountain,  just  as  the  mountain  men  used  to  call  it  the  'Old  He'," 
(See  reproduction  in  "Mount  Eainier:  A  Eecord  of  Explorations",  edited 
by  Edmond  S.  Meany,  Professor  of  History  in  the  University  of  Wash- 
ington, p.  95,  and  also  photographic  copy  of  the  original  herewith). 

Thus  on  the  authority  of  General  Stevens  Takhoma  is  not  a  specific  name 
applied  to  any  particular  mountain  exclusively,  but  is  a  generic  term  equiv- 
alent in  the  English  language  to  the  word  "Mount"  and  applicable  to  all 
snow  peaks. 

CLINCHING  STATEMENT  BY  THE  DIRECTOR  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

From  the  Washington  State  Historical  Society  Publications,  pages  440- 
441,  we  quote  the  following  conclusive  and  disinterested  letter  of  George  Otis 
Smith,  director  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey: 

"Washington,  D.  C,  February  28,  1908. 
''Mr.  Benjamin  L.  Harvey.  Tacoma.  Wa.^hington. 
"Sir  :     In  reply  to  your  letter  of  February  15 : 
"You  will  understand  that,  being  a  resident  of  neither  Seattle  nor 

25 


Tacoma,  I  have  no  personal  interest  in  continuing  the  present  discussion 
concerning  the  name  of  America's  noblest  mountain.  I  wish,  however, 
to  direct  your  attention  to  certain  facts  which  influence  me  in  the  posi- 
tion I  have  taken.  First,  let  me  call  your  notice  to  the  fact  that  you  find 
no  trouble  in  using  the  name  of  Captain  Puget,  although  your  pen  stumbles 
over  the  name  of  Admiral  Rainier.  As  I  understand  it,  both  were  Eng- 
lishmen with  the  same  prejudices  and  much  the  same  training.  Nor  would 
I  expect  you  to  object  to  the  name  given  to  the  sister  volcano  in  Whatcom 
County,  namely,  Mount  Baker.  This  by  way  of  introduction  to  the  real 
argument  I  wish  to  submit  to  you,  which  I  believe  is  rather  new  and  pos- 
sibly not  even  in  the  repertoire  of  the  average  Seattle  boomer. 

"In  1901  I  was  in  charge  of  the  investigation  of  the  Xorth western 
boundary  of  the  United  States  and  of  your  State  between  Osoyoos  Lake 
and  Puget  Sound  and  in  the  course  of  this  investigation  I  made  use  of 
the  old  boundary  map,  which  had  not  been  published,  but  of  which  I  had 
secured  photographs  from  the  State  Department.  On  those  old  maps, 
which  antedated  much  of  the  settlement  of  your  State,  the  prominent 
geographic  features — rivers,  lakes,  and  mountains — were  given  both  the 
English  names  and  the  old  Indian  names,  in  many  cases  only  the  Indian 
names,  since  the  country-  was  then  comparatively  unknown  to  white  men. 
Xow  the  interesting  fact  is  that  Mount  Baker  was  given  not  only  this 
English  name,  but  the  old  Indian  name  as  well  of  Ta-ho-ma.  In  other 
words,  the  Indians  applied  this  name,  which  as  you  know,  signifies  The 
Great  Mountain,  not  only  to  the  mountain  which  so  beautifully  looms  up 
above  your  own  city,  but  also  to  the  mountain  somewhat  similar  in  gen- 
eral appearance,  in  the  northern  part  of  vour  State  and  very  likely  to 
others  of  the  volcanic  cones  in  Washington.  The  fact  is  that  the  Siwash 
would  speak  of  the  largest  mountain  in  his  immediate  vicinitv  as  'the 
mountain'  just  as  the  Tacoma  man  will  today  refer  to  'the  mountain,' 
meaning  Mount  Kainier,  whereas  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Xooksak  you  will 
hear  the  ranchman  designating  Mount  Baker  as  'the  mountain.'  The 
name  Ta-ho-ma  or  Tacoma,  as  applied  to  a  mountain,  thus  having  no 
distinctive  value,  it  was  necessarily  abandoned  and  the  more  distinctive 
names  of  Baker  and  Eainier  have  been  applied  to  the  mountains  that  are 
so  well  worth  naming. 

"As  a  member  of  an  organization  devoted  to  exact  geographic  work, 
I  am  compelled  to  stand  for  the  authoritative  name  of  Eainier,  which  is 
supported  by  the  Board  of  Geographic  Names,  which  in  turn  bears  the 
stamps  of  approval  of  President  Roosevelt,  to  whom  your  letter  refers  in 
this  connection. 

"Very  respectfully, 

"GEORGE  OTIS  SMITH,  Director." 
(Italics  ours.) 

GENERIC  TERMS  OFTEN  TAKEN  FOR  SPECIFIC  TERMS 

In  an  article  entitled  "Indian  Mj-ths  of  the  Northwest",  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  for  October,  1915,  William  D. 
Lyman,  professor  of  history  of  ^\l^itman  College,  says : 

"One  confusing  condition  that  often  arises  with  Indian  names  and 

26 


stories  is  that  some  Indians  use  a  word  generic-ally  and  others  use  the  same 
word  specifically.  For  instance,  the  native  name  for  Mount  Adams,  com- 
monly known  as  'Pahton,'  and  Mount  Eainier  or  Tacoma,  better  spelled 
'Tahkoma,'  as  sounded  by  the  Indians,  really  mean  any  high  mountains. 
A  Wasco  Indian  once  told  me  that  his  tribe  called  Mountain  Hood  'Pah- 
ton/  meaning  the  'big  mountain,'  but  that  the  Indians  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Columbia  Eiver  applied  the  same  name  to  Adams. 

"A  very  intelligent  Puyallup  Indian  told  me  that  the  name  of  the 
'Great  White  Mountain'  was  'Tahkoma,'  with  accent  and  prolonged  sound 
on  the  second  syllable,  but  that  any  snow  peak  was  the  same  with  the 
second  syllable  not  so  prolonged,  according  to  the  height  or  distance  of 
the  peak.  Mount  St.  Helens  was  also  Tahkoma,  but  with  the  'ho'  not  so 
prolonged." 

TESTIMONY  OF  A  LIVING  HISTORIAN 

Clarence  B.  Bagiey,  President  of  the  University  of  Washington  State 
Historical  Society,  is  a  man  whose  interests  and  pleasure,  outside  of  his  ordi- 
nary duties,  have  been  the  study  and  compilation  of  matters  relating  to  early 
Pacific  Xorthwest  history.  Attention  is  directed  to  his  signed  statement  in 
tiie  following  words : 

"In  1852  the  writer  came  across  the  plains  to  Old  Oregon,  with  his 
parents,  and  since  then  has  lived  in  sight  of  Mount  Rainier. 

"In  18G6  he  went  into  the  office  of  the  Surveyor  General  of  Washing- 
.  ton  at  Olympia  as  clerk,  arid  was  advanced  to  Assistant  Draftsman.  Cap- 
tain James  S.  Lawson,  of  the  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  used  that  office 
one  M'inter  in  making  up  his  notes,  charts,  etc.,  and  the  writer  was  in  tlie 
room  when  he  announced  the  result  of  his  triangulations  and  measure- 
ments of  the  height  of  Mount  Rainier,  as  being  14,444  feet,  a  continu- 
ing fraction. 

"In  1868  the  writer  engaged  in  the  newspaper  business  and  continued 
in  it  for  about  twenty  years.  Since  1890  he  has  devoted  a  great  deal  of 
his  time  to  the  collecting  and  preservation  of  books,  newspapers,  manu- 
scripts, pamphlets,  etc.,  pertaining  to  the  history  of  the  Pacific  Northwest, 
and  during  that  period  has  done  a  large  amount  of  writing  in  regard  to  it. 

"He  has  been  familiar  with  every  phase  of  the  controversies  regard- 
ing the  several  proposed  names  of  Mount  Rainier  and  of  'Who  Named 
Tacoma?' 

"Until  the  appearance  of  Winthrop's  book  'Canoe  and  Saddle,'  Mount 
Rainier  was  the  only  name  in  use  in  newspaper  and  more  serious  litera- 
ture. After  its  appearance  here  (i.  e.,  'Canoe  and  Saddle')  a  lodge  of 
Good  Templars  in  Olympia  was  named  'Tacoma'  and  soon  afterwards  a 
hotel  in  the  same  town  was  given  that  name.  In  1868  a  sawmilling  town 
on  Commencement  Bay  was  named  Tacoma,  and  in  1873,  when  the  North- 
ern Pacific  Railroad  Company  located  its  Western  terminal  on  Puget 
Sound,  it  called  its  embryo  town  'New  Tacoma.'  During  the  next  ten 
years,  or  until  1883,  the  use  of  Mount  Rainier  was  universal,  colloquially, 
and  in  the  press,  though  occasionally  some  fugitive  verse  or  work  of  fiction 
used  the  word  Tacoma  in  connection  with  the  mountain. 

"That  year,  between  February  and  May,  the  newspapers  of  the  City 

27 


of  Tacoma,  began  applying  the  name  Tacoma  to  the  mountain,  following 
the  suggestion  or  order  emanating  from  the  office  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Eailroad  Company  in  St.  Paul. 

"The  demand  for  the  change  of  the  name  has  always  come  from  the 
officers  of  that  company  and  the  people  of  Tacoma.  It  has  never  been 
actuated  by  a  desire  to  perpetuate  the  original  Indian  names  of  this  region, 
but  the  one  word  has  been  singled  out  as  a  means  of  advertising  a  particu- 
lar city. 

"The  writer  has  talked  with  one  hundred  or  more  of  the  true  pioneers 
of  Western  Washington  who  came  here  in  the  oO's  or  prior  to  that  time, 
and  every  one  of  them  has  told  him  that  he  or  she  had  never  heard  the 
name  Tacoma.  applied  to  Mount  Eainier  until  after  the  appearance  here 
of  'Canoe  and  Saddle.' '' 

WINTHROP  CONCEDES  TACOMA  TO  BE  A  GENERIC 

TERM 

We  have  shown  that  every  competent  historical  authority  available  con- 
cedes that  Takhoma,  Tacobet,  Tacobed,  Dacobed,  Tacope  and  all  the  varia- 
tions of  this  word  as  understood  from  the  difficult  Indian  pronunciation,  is  a 
generic  term  applied  to  all  snow-capped  mountains,  except  such  as  question 
the  authenticity  of  the  word  as  of  genuine  Indian  origin. 

It  has  also  been  shown  beyond  any  reasonable  doubt  that  the  word  Tacoma 
was  originated  by  Theodore  Winthrop,  and  that  he  first  applied  it  to  Mount 
Rainier.  It  is  therefore  important  to  know  the  exact  tenns  in  which  he  did 
so.  In  "The  Canoe  and  the  Saddle",  by  Theodore  Winthrop,  published  by 
John  W.  Lovell  Co.  of  New  York,  page  44,  ap])ears  these  words: 

"Of  all  the  peaks  from  California  to  Frazer's  River,  this  one  before 
me  was  royalist.  Mount  Regnier,  Christians  have  dubbed  it,  in  stupid 
nomenclature  perpetuating  the  name  of  somebody  or  nobody.  More  me- 
lodiously the  Siwashes  call  it  Tacoma,  n  generic  term  also  applied  to  all 
snoic  peals."     (Italics  ours.) 

Winthrop  was,  of  course,  only  a  bird  of  passage.  He  traveled  from  Port 
Townsend  to  Nisqually  by  canoe,  and  thence  over  the  Cascades  towards  the 
East  on  horseback.  If  he  is  actually  the  authority  for  the  name  Tacoma. 
and  it  appears  beyond  all  peradventure  that  he  is,  he  completely  annihilates  all 
claim  that  it  was  the  Indian  name  of  the  mountain  by  the  statement  that  it 
was  "a  generic  name  also  applied  to  all  snow  peaks",  which  exactly  agrees, 
with  reasonable  allowance  for  pronunciation,  with  the  early  pioneers  and 
leading  historical  works  herein  quoted.  Winthrop  may  easily  have  made 
"Tacoma"  out  of  the  sputtering,  gutteral  Indian  pronunciation  of  "Tacobed" 
or  "Tacobet."  The  authenticity,  however,  of  the  latter  word  supported  by 
historical  record  and  the  testimony  of  the  pioneers  understanding  the  native 
tongue  is,  of  course,  unassailable,  as  against  the  interpretation  of  Winthrop. 

28 


One  is  inclined  to  believe  that  the  application  of  the  name  Tacoma  to 
the  mountain  was  rather  a  flight  of  poetical  fancy  on  the  part  of  Winthrop, 
for  in  his  intimate  letters  to  his  mother  during  his  voyage  through  the 
Pacific  Northwest  he  invariably  uses  the  historical  name  Rainier,  as: 

"Over  the  trees  that  belted  the  river,  nearer  than  ever,  rose  graceful 
St.  Helens,  and  now  first  clearly  seen,  the  immense  bulk  of  Rainier,  the 
most  massive  of  all — grand,  grand,  above  the  plains !" 

And,  "Had  a  jolly  time,  splendid  sheet  of  water  with  islands  and  nooks 
of  bays.  Mount  Rainier  hung  up  in  the  air."  (See  life  and  poems  of  Theo- 
dore Winthrop,  edited  by  his  sister,  1884,  pages  156  and  157,  and  photographic 
copies  of  the  same  herewith.) 

NO  CHANGE  WARRANTED  EXCEPT  ON  GROUNDS 
THAT  CARRY  CONVICTION 

A  change  of  name  of  a  prominent  geographical  feature  should  only  be 
made  by  competent  authority  for  clear  and  well  defined  reasons  in  the  interests 
of  historical  accuracy  or  public  policy.  Changes  are  confusing  at  best  and 
should  not  be  based  upon  trifling  grounds  or  irrevelant  pretexts.  The  question 
is  not  "What  name  shall  be  given  to  an  unnamed  object."  The  mountain  has 
now  a  name  conferred  on  it  by  its  discoverer  in  accordance  with  age-old 
custom,  a  name  since  universally  applied  to  it  by  geographers,  followed  with 
only  limited  exception  by  popular  usage  and  officially  confirmed  by  this  Board. 

A  CHANGE  WOULD  MAKE  CONFUSION  WORSE 
CONFOUNDED 

It  would  be  inadvisable  to  substitute  Tacoma  for  Rainier  because  of  the 
endless  confusion  which  would  result  from  such  action.  It  is  impossible  in 
a  paper  of  this  length  to  submit  all  citations  to  Mount  Rainier  in  the  enormous 
body  of  Americana,  now  embraced  in  our  libraries.  Especial  attention  is 
called  to  the  following  partial  categories : 

Up  to  the  year  1863,  when  Theodore  Winthrop's  book  entitled  "The 
Canoe  and  The  Saddle"  made  its  appearance,  no  work,  public  or  j^rivate, 
cites  any  name  for  Mount  Rainier  save  the  one  given  by  Captain  Vancouver. 
I'he  exceptions  to  the  above  by  three  private  writers  who  preferred  Mount 
Harrison,  have  already  been  noted. 

In  all  public  documents  of  the  civilized  world  up  to  the  present  day,  in 
all  public  maps,  charts,  scientific  works,  and  in  government  literature,  no 
name  save  that  of  Mount  Rainier  has  been  used.  One  exception  only  is  noted: 
Mr.  Emmons  in  one  article  preferred  the  name  Tacoma,  but  spelled  it  dif- 
ferently. 

29 


In  all  the  works  of  explorers,  navigators,  and  scientists,  notably  Wilkco, 
Fremont,  Stevens,  Davidson,  Alden,  Kellett,  Inskip,  and  Richards,  no  other 
designation  except  Mount  Rainier  is  used.  In  by  far  the  greater  portion  of 
all  private  literature  Mount  Rainier  is  sanctioned  by  usage.  Special  atten- 
tion is  called  to  the  index  by  Poole,  the  present  Readers'  Guide.  Further,  in 
the  official  publications  of  Western  mountaineer  societies,  especially  the  Sierra 
Club  of  California,  the  Mazamas  of  Oregon,  and  the  Mountaineers  of  Wash- 
ington, the  designation  Mount  Rainier  is  used  exclusively.  In  all  the  official 
literature  of  railroads  and  steamboat  companies  which  send  thousands  of 
people  to  the  Mount  Rainier  Xational  Park,  no  name  other  than  Mount 
Rainier  appears  as  the  title  of  this  mountain. 

Mention  is  especially  made  of  the  literature  of  Mount  Rainier  Xational 
Park,  distributed  by  the  United  States  Government. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  comment  upon  the  great  confusion  and  dupli- 
cation which  would  ensue  were  a  second  name  substituted  for  Mount  Rainier. 
Already  enough  confusion  has  been  brought  about  by  the  persistence  of  advo- 
cates of  the  word  Tacoma.  As  an  illustration  of  this  we  cite  Poole's  Index. 
In  that  work  the  vast  majority  of  articles  appear  under  Rainier — a  few  under 
Tacoma.  Unless  the  reader  is  familiar  with  the  controversy  (and  few  persons 
outside  of  Puget  Sound  region  are  familiar  with  it),  he  will  look  under  Rainier 
in  the  index,  and  thus  miss  the  articles  which  are  cited  under  Tacoma.  Fur- 
ther some  articles  are  not  listed  under  Tacoma,  but  under  some  form  of  the 
word  Tacoma,  as  Takhoma. 

RAINIER,  46;  TACOMA,  1 

Bibliography  of  Washington  Geology  and  Geography,  issued  by  the  State 
of  Washington,  Olympia,  1913,  cites  47  publications  on  Mount  Rainier,  many 
of  them  by  the  Alpine,  Mazama,  Mountaineer,  and  Sierra  clubs.  In  46  cases 
the  mountain  is  called  Rainier,  and  in  one  case  Tacoma.  The  use  of  the  two 
names  respectively  is  in  very  much  the  same  proportion  throughout  the  State 
of  Washington.  Aside  from  historical  accuracy  and  every  ethical  considera- 
tion, which  is  easier — to  change  the  habit  of  4(5  persons  or  of  one? 

A  CHANGE  WOULD  CAUSE  MONETARY  LOSS 

To  substitute  the  name  Tacoma  for  the  name  Rainier  woukl  not  be  ad- 
visable because  it  would  result  in  an  unjustifiable  financial  loss  of  "good  will" 
to  the  legitimate  advertisei-s  of  the  mountain  and  Mount  Rainier  Xational 
Park. 

We  suggest  incidentally  the  loss  and  embarrassment  to  the  United  States 
Government,  and  particularly  the  fact  that  for  many  years  the  government 

30 


has  expended  large  sums  of  money  in  the  preparation  and  distribution  of 
maps  and  literature  in  an  effort  to  educate  the  public  to  the  fullest  possible 
appreciation  of  the  scenic,  scientific  and  health-giving  value  of  this  park;  and 
that  upon  this  park  it  has  spent  immense  sums  to  make  its  attractions  avail- 
able. I'his  constitutes  a  public  good  will  which  could  scarcely  be  appraised  in 
money.  To  change  the  name  of  the  mountain  and  consequently  of  the  park 
would  be  virtually  to  destroy  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  the  world  the  ex- 
istence of  such  a  park,  and  thousands  of  dollars  would  have  to  be  expended  in 
educating  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  Europe  to  the  appreciation  of 
the  park  under  a  new  name.  Every  private  corporation  knows  the  value  of  an 
established  name,  and  the  name  or  trade-mark  is  often  the  chief  assef,  of  im- 
portant business  concerns. 

Greater  loss  and  one  even  more  burdensome  would  result  to  private  in- 
dividuals who  have  been  the  chief  actors  in  bringing  about  a  sentiment  which 
resulted  in  the  creation  of  the  Rainier  National  Park.  For  many  years  all 
railroads  entering  the  Puget  Sound  region,  have  spent  money  liberally  in  ad- 
vertising the  mountain  and  the  park  with  a  view  to  securing  tourist  travel. 
If  a  cliangc  of  name  were  now  made  much  of  this  work  would  have  to  be  done 
over.  Likewise,  many  authors  have  issued  books  upon  the  mountain  and  in 
good  faith  have  put  out  their  work  under  the  official  name  of  Mount  Rainier. 
Attention  is  called  to  a  recent  work  by  Professor  Edmond  S.  Meany,  entitled 
"Mount  Rainier:  A  Record  of  Exploration."  A  large  edition  has  already 
been  disposed  of,  eight  hundred  copies  of  which  are  now  in  Eastern  libraries. 
A  second  edition  has  just  come  from  off  the  press,  and  will  be  in  the  market 
shortly.  Much  money  has  been  expended  by  the  publishers  in  exploiting  this 
book  under  its  official  title. 

A  CHANGE  WOULD  NOT  SETTLE  THE  CONTROVERSY 

It  would  not  be  advisable  to  substitute  Tacoma  for  Rainier  because  such 
action  would  not  settle  the  controversy.  It  would  renew  and  intensify  it. 
The  controversy  has  its  strong  side  and  its  weak  side.  Very  few  persons  who 
are  free  from  local  or  personal  interest  in  the  matter  question  that  the  strength 
of  the  matter  is  with  Rainier.  The  citizens  of  the  city  of  Tacoma  desire  that 
the  name  Tacoma  be  substituted  for  the  name  Rainier,  while  nine-tenths  of 
the  remainder  of  the  state  desire  that  the  name  Rainier  be  retained.  The 
only  controversy  is  that  of  the  city  of  Tacoma  against  the  rest  of  the  world 
and  the  United  States  Geographic  Board.  The  substitution  of  Tacoma  for 
Rainier  would  make  confusion  worse  confounded  an  hundred  fold.  If  the 
action  of  this  Board  twenty-six  years  ago  supported  by  all  the  historical 
precedents  did  not  terminate  the  controversy,  can  it  be  hoped  that  its  action, 
if  taken  now  in  opposition  to  all  precedents,  will  set  the  matter  at  rest? 

31 


MR.  WALL  SUGGESTS  A  VERY  REAL  FACT 

S.  W.  Wall,  the  head  of  the  Taeoma  movement,  in  these  words  in  the 
Seattle  Argm  of  March  IT,  1917,  expresses  a  very  definite  fact: 

"  *  *  *  And  there  is  just  one  reason,  it  seems  to  me,  why  it 
[Taeoma]  may  not  be  adopted,  and  that  is  that  the  board  may  fear  it 
would  not  be  accepted  by  all  the  citizens  of  the  State  and  the  confusion 
we  seek  to  be  rid  of  continued." 

As  already  stated,  the  confusion  now  existing  from  Tacoma"s  refusal  to 
confomi  to  the  decision  of  the  Board  of  Geographic  Names  and  designate  the 
mountain  by  its  official  title,  would  certainly  be  immensely  increased  by  an 
attempt  to  make  the  entire  civilized  world,  outside  of  Taeoma,  call  the  moun- 
tain by  the  name  of  that  city,  after  a  century  and  a  quarter  of  usage  of  the 
name  Eainier. 

NEWSPAPER  EXPRESSIONS 

This  is  very  clearly  expressed  in  a  leading  editorial  in  the  Seattle  Post- 
Intelligencer,  the  most  important  morning  newspaper  in  the  State  of  Wash- 
ington, under  date  of  April  21,  1917: 

''The  pros  and  cons  of  the  controversy,  historical  and  otherwise,  are 
so  numerous  as  to  be  beyond  newspaper  space.  Putting  them  all  aside, 
there  still  remains  one  indisputable  fact  that  should  convince  the  Geo- 
graphic Board  of  the  futility  of  any  change. 

"For  years  the  official  name  of  the  mountain  has  been  Mount  Rainier. 
There  has  been  no  question  as  to  that.  The  existence  of  official  sanction 
has  never  been  questioned.  Yet  the  people  of  Taeoma  have  never  used 
the  name  Eainier,  and  they  have  maintained  their  antipathy  to  such 
designation  so  consistently  that  railroads  and  other  corporations  using 
the  mountain  for  advertising  purposes  always  felt  compelled  to  include 
tlie  name  IMount  Taeoma  in  their  printing. 

"It  is,  of  course,  possible  to  decree  that  henceforth  the  name  of  the 
mountain  shall  be  Mount  Taeoma,  or  Mount  Somethingelse.  But  no 
decree  can  make  people  use  the  name.  It  will  still  be  Mount  Rainier  in 
speech  and  in  the  written  word.  The  action  of  the  Geographic  Board, 
should  it  order  a  change,  would  be  merely  to  take  away  official  sanction 
from  Rainier,  without  any  possibility  of  changing  the  habit  of  speech 
of  the  people  of  Washington.  And  certainly  it  will  have  infinit-ely  less 
effect  on  the  custom  of  the  world  at  large.  Mount  Rainier  it  will  al- 
ways be." 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  leading  editorial  of  the  Seattle  Times, 
the  chief  afternoon  daily  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  in  its  issue  of  February 
10,  1917: 

"LET  IT  REMAIN  'MOUNT  RAINIER'  " 

"*  *  *  King  County  and  this  city  gave  abundant  evidence  of  their 
friendship  for  Pierce  County  when  they  Vent  down  the  line'  in  support 

32 


of  the  amiy  post  scheme  in  Pierce  County — the  biggest  thing  that  has 
happened  for  Tacoma  in  its  history.  Seattle,  of  its  own  volition,  an- 
nounced that  it  was  prepared,  if  necessary  to  assure  the  success  of  the 
plan,  to  ask  that  Fort  Lawton  be  abandoned  as  an  army  post  and  turned 
into  a  municipal  park.  Tacoma  could  ask  for  no  more  convincing  proof 
of  this  city's  disinterested  friendship. 

"Tacoma  always  has  taken  the  question  of  the  mountain's  name  alto- 
gether too  seriously  for  its  own  good.  It  has  fretted  itself  into  a  state 
of  mind  where  it  regards  the  majestic  height  as  a  private  asset  of  the  City 
of  Destiny,  forgetting  that  every  other  community  in  the  state  and,  par- 
ticularly, in  ^^'estem  Washington,  has  a  certain  very  definite  interest  in 
this  most  beautiful  of  all  American  peaks.  J^ 

"Tacoma  has  no  better  claim  to  the  mountain  than  has  Seattle.  In 
fact,  if  there  is  to  be  a  contest  precipitated  over  its  name,  Seattle  may 
elect  to  'get  into  the  game'  itself.  Certainly,  'Seattle'  is  just  as  good  In- 
dian as  'Tacoma,'  is  just  as  dignified  and  is  not  spelled  in  forty  different 
ways  by  contending  enthusiasts. 

"Furtheruiore,  if  Tacoma  can  change  Eainier's  name  at  this  session 
of  the  Legislature,  why  will  it  not  be  possible  for  Seattle  to  change  'Mount 
Tacoma's'  name  to  'Mount  Seattle'  at  the  next?  In  fact,  there  is  no  ap- 
])arent  reason  why  this  absurd  contest  should  not  be  kept  up  indefinitely, 
to  the  mingled  amuseuient  and  amazement  of  an  astonished  country. 

"There  is  absolutely  no  justification  for  Tacoma's  attempt  to  steal 
the  mountain  for  advertising  purposes.  The  Legislature  should  be  ac- 
quainted at  once  with  Seattle's  disapproxal  of  the  proposition.  Certainly, 
if  the  state  solons  indorse  the  change  desired  ])y  Tacoma,  they  should, 
with  equal  reason,  vote  to  change  all  the  other  distinctive  designations 
in  this  state  whenever  requested  to  do  so  by  self  advertising  municipalities 
or  real  estate  boomers." 

The  Seattle  Fod-Intplligencer  said  editorially,  Aju'il  3,  1910: 

"Seattle  is  exceedingly  busy  just  now  in  trying  to  meet  the  oppor- 
tunities so  fortunately  thrust  upon  it  and  to  acquit  itself  creditably  of 
its  new  responsibilities.  In  this  situation,  with  its  coat  off  and  sleeves 
rolled  up  and  every  hour  calling  for  action,  Seattle  is  invited  to  lay  aside 
its  work  and  undertake  an  enquiry  as  to  what  name  the  Indians  of  Puget 
Sound  used  in  referring  to  what  is  now  known  as  Mount  Rainier. 

"Various  citizens  of  Tacoma  feel  that  it  would  be  a  grand  adver- 
tisement to  have  the  great  mountain  bear  the  name  of  their  city  and 
they  are  seeking  this  change  like  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  Committee 
might  seek  a  new  industry  or  a  new  railroad  and  for  the  same  reasons. 
*  *  *  Tacoma  should  get  down  to  the  business  of  city  building  and 
take  advantage  of  its  opportunities  for  material  advancement  now  go 
liberally  offered.  There  is  nothing  in  this  name  campaign  and  it  can 
only  .mean  the  waste  of  va.lua.ble  time  and  effort  in  a  triviality.  *  *  * 
Tacoma  should  put  her  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  push  in  the  direction 
of  some  practical  constructive  purpose." 

It  is  to  be  remembered  that  the  controversy  is  not  solely  between  the  peo- 
ple of  Tacoma  and  the  United  States  Geographic  Board.  Further,  for  over 
twenty-six  years   (from  1890  to  191T),  the  champions  of  the  name  Tacoma 


have  ignored  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Board  of  Geographic  Names. 
Is  there  any  guarantee  that,  if  the  name  Tacoma  were  made  the  official  designa- 
tion by  the  United  States  Geographic  Board,  it  would  be  accepted  by  those 
who  believe  (on  groimds  that  this  Board  must  recognize  as  just),  that  Rainier 
is  the  only  name  historically  correct?  We  seriously  question  whether  any 
compromise  name,  such  as  Puskehouse,  Tiswauk,  Lincoln  or  Whitman,  would 
be  accepted  by  those  who  have  asked  for  a  change.    They  will  stick  to  Tacoma. 

A  bad  example  has  been  set  by  the  advocates  of  the  name  Tacoma,  and. 
if  one  bad  example  can  bring  about  a  desired  end,  a  second  endeavor  of  like 
character  is  quite  likely  to  follow.  Thus,  in  the  near  future,  the  United 
States  Geographic  Board,  if  it  reverses  its  decision  of  1890,  will  be  called 
upon  to  reverse  a  reversal  and  return  to  the  previous  decision,  which  is  liis- 
torically  supported. 

This  is  a  larger  question  than  that  of  any  community  or  of  the  nation- 
it  is  international  in  its  interest  and  in  its  effect.  Is  it  probable  that  foreign 
geographers  will  agree  to  the  innovation  of  a  new  name  at  this  late  day,  in- 
volving a  change  in  all  their  maps,  charts  and  records? 

No  community,  however,  proximate,  has  a  claim  over  and  above  any  other 
community  in  the  United  States,  however  distant.  It  would  be  as  pertinent 
for  a  city  in  the  State  of  Florida  to  rechristen  the  mountain  as  for  any  com- 
munity in  the  State  of  Washington. 

IN  CONCLUSION 

Therefore,  since  the  name  of  Mount  Rainier  has  a  perfect  title  in  history, 
and  since  the  genuineness  of  the  name  Tacoma  has  not  been  established,  and 
since  no  widespread  or  national  request  for  a  change  has  been  made,  and 
since  the  change  to  the  name  Tacoma,  or  any  other  name,  would  result  in 
confusion  and  financial  loss,  and  since  a  change  to  the  name  Tacoma  would 
not  end  the  controversy,  it  is  urged  that  no  change  be  made  from  the  name 
of  Mount  Rainier. 

All  this  is  most  respectfully  submitted  by  one  whose  first  home  in  Wash- 
ington territory  was  in  Tacoma,  whose  oldest  friends  in  the  state  are  there, 
and  who  himself  called  the  mountain  Tacoma  until  convinced  by  research 
that  no  historical  warrant  existed  for  the  name. 

All  authorities  cited  herein  are  submitted  in  the  original  or  in  the  form 
of  photographic  copies. 

CHARLES  TALLMADGE  CONOVER, 
Ecpresenting  numerous  citizens  of  the  State  of  Washington. 
Seattle,  April  24,  1917. 

34 


REMARKS  BY  C.  T.  CONOVER 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Gentlemen  of  the  United  States  Geographic  Board: 

This  is  a  peculiar  malady  that  you  are  called  upon  to  consider  and  slow 
to  yield  to  treatment.  It  has  been  before  you  before  more  than  twenty-six 
/ears  ago  and  is  back  again  now  in  spite  of  your  diagnosis  and  treatment  at 
thit  time.  I  know  it  well.  It  has  been  classified  by  a  well-known  historian  as 
"Tffcomacitis".  I  have  lived  in  Tacoma  and  I  have  had  it.  In  other  words, 
TaLVfma  was  my  first  home  on  the  coast  and  I  believed  that  Tacoma  was  the 
abor.'^inal  name  of  the  mountain  and  that  Eainier  was  a  rank  usurper  until 
research  convinced  me  of  the  error.  The  peculiar  thing  is  that  a  cure  is  im- 
possible while  one  lives  in  Tacoma. 

"Convince  a  man  against  his  will, 
He'll  hold   the  same  opinion  still." 

I  have  a  friend  in  Tacoma,  a  highly  intelligent  woman,  with  whom 
I  was  recently  discussing  the  mountain's  name.  Incidentally,  I  quoted  a 
paragraph  from  the  book  of  Ezra  Meeker.  She  replied,  "But  they  say 
he  didn't  say  it".  Xow,  whether  or  not  he  said  it,  his  book  was  the 
best  evidence,  but  she  relied  upon  this  indefinite  statement  rather  than 
find  out  from  Mr.  Meeker's  book  itself,  whether  or  not  Mr.  Meeker  testified 
as  I  said  he  did.  This  attitude,  I  am  forced  to  say,  I  have  always  found  to  be 
one  of  the  pronounced  and  peculiar  symptoms  of  the  disease.  While  this 
malady  seems  peculiarly  virulent  at  the  present  moment,  I  can  assure  this 
Honorable  Board  that  this  is  its  final  manifestation,  just  as  a  tree  erupts 
an  unprecedented  mass  of  blossom  the  year  before  it  dies. 

In  the  days  of  my  residence  in  Tacoma  thirty  years  ago,  Tacomacitis 
was  quite  a  new  malady,  with  all  the  vigor  of  youth.  In  those  days  George 
Francis  Train,  the  eccentric  publicist,  was  sort  of  a  patron  saint  of  Tacoma, 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  and  I  well 
remember  the  wierd  copy  he  used  to  send  us  of  the  Tacoma  Ledger  from  New 
York,  every  other  line  written  in  blue  pencil  and  alternate  lines  in  red.  The 
only  gem  from  his  pen  that  I  now  recall  is  this  touching  sentiment : 

"Tacoma !  Tacoma ! !  Aroma !  Aroma ! ! 

"Seattle!  Seattle!!  Death  Rattle!  Death  Rattle!!" 

It  all  seems  quite  crazy  looking  back  upon  it,  but  he  was  considered  in 
Tacoma  a  very  great  poet  indeed,  so  great  that  he  was  sent  around  the  world 
on  a  spectacular  trip  against  time  for  advertising  purposes,  promulgating  his 
touching  "Aroma  Death  Rattle"  sentiments  en  route.  Mr.  Wall  went  as  his 
private  secretary  and  wrote  a  book  on  the  experience.  It  is  quite  natural 
that  he,  in  this  day,  should  be  leading  Tacoma's  forces  and  he  himself  at  the 
front  bearing  the  heat  and  brunt  of  battle. 

35 


I  will  acknowledge  that  we  have  been  taken  very  much  by  surprise  by 
the  complete  change  of  front  of  the  Tacoma  campaign  since  we  reached  Wash- 
ington. For  years  we  have  been  hearing  out  in  Washington  that  Eainier  was 
an  Englishman  and  that  he  had  been  an  enemy  of  this  country  and  that,  in 
consequence,  Mt.  Eainier  must  be  renamed  Tacoma.  We  never  heard  anything 
about  the  offence  to  our  good  taste  and  patriotism  because  Mt.  Baker,  Mt. 
Hood,  Mt.  St.  Helens  or  Puget  Sound  were  named  for  Englishmen  who  had 
been  enemies  of  this  country  in  just  the  same  Avay — it  was  all  poor  old  Peter 
Eainier.  Mr.  Wall  conducted  a  weekly  paper  in  Tacoma,  called  What's  Doing, 
and  the  only  thing  that  was  doing  was  the  spreading  of  this  doctrine.  Mr. 
Wall  went  up  and  down  the  state,  Avaving  the  bloody  shirt  and  personally 
visited  every  member  of  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  and  pledged  them, 
wherever  possible,  just  as  one  would  in  a  political  campaign,  to  vote  for  a 
memorial  to  this  Honorable  Body  to  make  a  change  of  name.  Most  of  these 
politicians  knew  but  little  about  the  merits  of  the  matter  and  perhaps  cared 
less.  Here  is  a  sample  of  Mr.  Wall's  literature  which  has  been  spread  broadcast, 
an  extract  from  a  leaflet  entitled  "'■Justice  to  the  Mountain": 

"That  a  petition  be  circulated  in  Seattle  and  l^acoma  and  through- 
out the  state  asking  the  Geographic  Board  at  Washington  to  renounce 
the  name  Eainier  and  adopt  in  its  stead  one  of  the  various  forms  of  the 
Indian  name  *  *  *  for  the  reason  that  Eainier,  for  whom  Vancouver 
named  the  mountain,  was  an  enemy  of  our  country  and  fought  against 
us  when  we  were  struggling  for  our  liberty,  and  that  to  honor  him  with 
such  a  monument — the  most  majestic  single  peak  on  earth — is  extremely 
offensive  to  the  patriotic  feeling  of  a  people  living  in  the  State  called 
Washington." 

You  would  be  surprised  at  the  persistent  and  spectacular  features  this 
campaign  has  assumed.  Just  last  evening  I  received  from  my  son  at  Harvard 
this  editorial  from  the  staid  old  Boston  Transcript  of  April  28,  1917: 

(Here  Mr.  Conover  quoted  from  an  editorial  of  the  Boston  Transcript 
accusing  the  Geographic  Board  of  cowardice  in  straddling  the  Mt.  Eainier 
issue  and  adopting  the  hyphenated  tenn  "Eainier-Tacoma,"  and  contain- 
ing a  variety  of  equally  inaccurate  historical  statements  and  ending  with 
a  plea  for  "justice  to  the  mountain"  in  typical  Tacoma  style.) 

Chairman  Braid:  But  this  Board  never  straddled  this  issue  or  gave 
official  sanction  to  the  hypenated  name. 

Mr.  Conover:  I  am  well  aware  of  that,  but  that  statement  is  no  more 
false  than  every  other  statement  in  this  clipping. 

Finally  the  legislature  met  and  a  joint  memorial  was  introduced  asking 
this  Honorable  Board  to  make  a  change  in  the  name  of  Mt.  Eainier  to  the 
aboriginal  name,  setting  out  in  detail  Eainier's  English  birth  and  service  in 
the  British  Navy,  and  that  to  have  a  mountain  named  for  him  was  a  source 

36 


of  constant  humiliation  to  the  people  of  the  state  and  a  reflection  on  their 
taste  and  patriotism,  etc.,  etc.  AVe  submit  a  copy  of  the  resolution,  and  include 
it  also  in  our  printed  statement. 

Xow,  in  spite  of  this  long  continued  propaganda,  the  state  had  not  taken 
it  seriously — in  fact,  had  paid  no  attention  to  it  and  had  not  dignified  it  by 
opposition.  The  idea  of  asking  this  Board  to  decide  a  question  it  had  already 
decided  appeared  too  ridiculous  for  serious  attention.  The  resolution,  however, 
aroused  a  general  ripple  of  ridicule  throughout  the  state.  Joint  memorials 
were  introduced  to  change  the  names  of  several  natural  features  to  the  names 
of  cities  nearest  them  respectively,  each  in  the  language  of  the  Tacoma  memor- 
ial as  to  the  nationality  and  services  of  Baker,  Hood,  St.  Helens  and  Puget 
and  trie  offence  to  good  taste  and  patriotism,  and  each,  in  addition,  frankly 
recited  that  the  respective  communities  sought  to  have  the  changes  made  for 
advertising  purposes.  Thus  Bellingham  asked  for  Mt.  Baker,  Chehalis  for 
Mt.  St.  Helens,  Portland  for  Mt.  Hood,  Seattle  for  Puget  Sound,  etc. 

The  Tacoma  memorial  was  passed  in  the  House  but  died  in  the  Senate. 
Thereupon  a  new  joint  memorial  was  introduced  and  although  the  campaign 
for  years  had  been  that  of  the  bloody  shirt,  all  reference  to  this  sanguinary 
garment  was  omitted  in  the  new  memorial,  whose  sole  cause  of  action  was  that 
of  confusion  from  the  present  multiplicity  of  names,  a  confusion  due  entirely 
to  Tacoma's  refusal  to  recognize  a  previous  decision  of  this  Board. 

Finally,  the  state  at  large  began  to  take  notice.  On  February  10,  1917. 
the  leading  editorial  of  the  Seattle  Times  read  in  part  as  follows: 

"Tacoma  always  has  taken  the  question  of  the  mountain's  name  alto- 
gether too  seriously  for  its  own  good.  It  has  fretted  itself  into  a  state 
of  mind  where  it  regards  the  majestic  height  as  a  private  asset  of  the  City 
of  Destiny,  forgetting  that  every  other  community  in  the  State,  and 
particularly  in  western  Washington,  has  a  certain  very  definite  interest 
in  this  most  beautiful  of  all  American  peaks. 

"Tacoma  has  no  better  claim  to  the  mountain  than  has  Seattle.  In 
fact,  if  there  is  to  be  a  contest  precipitated  over  its  name,  Seattle  may 
elect  to  get  into  the  game  itself.  Certainly  'Seattle'  is  just  as  good  Indian 
as  'Tacoma,'  is  just  as  dignified,  and  is  not  spelled  in  forty  different  ways 
by  contending  enthusiasts. 

"Furthermore,  if  Tacoma  can  change  Kainier's  name  at  this  session 
of  the  legislature,  why  will  it  not  be  possible  for  Seattle  to  change  'Mt. 
Tacoma's'  name  to  'Mt.  Seattle'  at  the  next?  In  fact,  there  is  no  apparent 
reason  why  this  absurd  contest  should  not  be  kept  up  indefinitely  to  the 
mingled  amusement  and  amazement  of  an  astonished  country  *  *  * 
Certainly  if  the  State  solons  endorse  the  change  desired  by  Tacoma,  they 
should,  with  equal  reason,  vote  to  change  all  the  other  distinctive  designa- 
tions in  this  State  whenever  requested  to  do  so  by  self-advertising  munici- 
palities or  real  estate  boomers." 

However,  the  memorial  went  through,  although  it  was  a  perversion  of  the 

37 


sentiment  of  the  state  and  of  the  legislature  itself.  Why  and  how  it  went 
through  is  best  expressed  in  the  words  of  William  Bishop,  a  member  of  the 
legislature  for  ten  years,  one  of  the  leading  business  men  of  the  state,  the  son 
of  a  full-blooded  Indian  mother,  whose  interest  in  the  matter  was  due  to  his 
knowledge  of  the  facts  and  his  interest  in  historical  accuracy.  I  will  quote 
from  his  affidavit: 

"That  knowing  the  facts  and  circumstances  in  this  matter  he  opposed 
the  passage  of  the  joint  memorial  in  the  last  session  of  the  State  Legis- 
lature and  unqualifiedly  states  that  the  real  sentiment  of  both  houses  was 
opposed  to  the  passage  of  the  memorial,  asking  for  the  change  in  this 
name;  that  its  passage  was  secured  through  the  powerful  influence  of 
the  Speaker  of  the  House,  who  was  from  Tacoma,  and  the  President  of 
the  Senate,  who  was  from  Tacoma.  Their  influence,  through  tlie  chair- 
men of  the  various  committees  whom  they  had  appointed,  absolutely  con- 
trolled. That  the  passage  of  said  memorial  was  somewhat  facilitated  by 
the  argument  that  Eainier  was  an  Englishman  and  had  been  an  enemy 
of  this  country." 

During  the  session  of  the  legislature,  the  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer  had 
an  editorial  on  the  subject  that  was  apparently  an  attempt  to  be  facetious,  but 
which  was  interpreted  as  an  indorsement  of  the  proposed  change.  That  this 
was  not  its  intention  is  evidenced  by  this  extract  from  an  editorial  in  the  Post- 
Intelligencer,  April  21,  1917,  just  a  few  days  ago: 

"The  pros  and  cons  of  the  controversy,  historical  and  otherwise,  are 
so  numerous  as  to  be  beyond  newspaper  space.  Putting  them  all  aside, 
there  still  remains  one  indisputable  fact  that  should  convince  the  Geo- 
graphic Board  of  the  futility  of  any  change. 

"For  years  the  official  name  of  the  mountain  has  been  Mount  Rainier. 
There  has  been  no  question  as  to  that.  The  existence  of  official  sanction 
has  never  been  questioned.  Yet  the  people  of  Tacoma  have  never  used 
the  name  Rainier,  and  they  have  maintained  their  antipathy  to  such  desig- 
nation so  consistently  that  railroads  and  other  corporations  using  the 
luoimtain  for  advertising  purposes  have  always  felt  compelled  to  include 
the  name  'Mount  Tacoma"  in  their  printing. 

"It  is,  of  course,  possible  to  decree  that  henceforth  the  name  of  the 
mountain  shall  be  Mount  Tacoma  or  Mount  Somethingelse.  But  no  decree 
can  make  the  people  use  the  name.  It  will  still  be  Mount  Rainier  in 
speech  and  in  the  M^'itten  word.  The  action  of  the  Geographic  Board, 
should  it  order  a  change,  would  be  merely  to  take  away  official  sanction 
from  Rainier  without  any  possibility  of  changing  the  habit  of  speech  of 
the  people  of  Washington.  And  certainly,  it  will  have  infinitely  less  effect 
on  the  custom  of  the  world  at  large.    Mount  Rainier  it  will  always  be." 

I  will  also  read  an  extract  from  the  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer  of  April 
3,  1916: 

"Seattle  is  exceedingly  busy  just  now  in  trying  to  meet  the  oppor- 
tunities so  fortunately  thrust  upon  it  and  to  acquit  itself  creditably  of 
its  new  responsibilities.     In  this  situation,  with  its  coat  off  and  sleeves 

38 


rolled  up  and  every  hour  calling  for  action,  Seattle  is  invited  to  lay  aside 
its  work  and  undertake  an  inquiry  as  to  what  name  the  Indians  of  Piiget 
Sound  used  in  referring  to  what  is  now  known  as  Mount  Rainier. 

"Various  citizens  of  Tacoma  feel  that  it  would  be  a  grand  advertise- 
ment to  have  the  great  mountain  bear  the  name  of  their  city,  and  they 
are  seeking  this  change  like  a  Chamber  of  Commerce  committee  might 
seek  a  new  industry  or  a  new  railroad,  and  for  the  same  reason.  *  *  * 
Tacoma  should  get  down  to  the  business  of  city-building  and  take  ad- 
vantage of  its  opportunity  for  material  advancement  now  so  liberally 
offered.  There  is  notliing  in  this  name  campaign,  and  it  can  only  mean 
the  waste  of  valuable  time  and  effort  in  a  triviality.  *  *  *  Tacoma 
should  put  her  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  push  in  the  direction  of  some 
practical  constructive  purpose." 

In  passing,  I  Avant  to  say  that  the  alleged  patriotic  ground  upon  which 
the  campaign  for  this  hearing  was  based,  is  not  sincere  and  I  cannot  puncture 
it  in  any  words  quite  as  neat  as  those  addressed  to  Benjamin  L.  Harvey,  of 
Tacoma,  more  than  nine  years  ago  by  George  Otis  Smith,  Director  of  the 
United  States  Geological  Survey,  which  letter  is  quoted  in  full  in  our  brief, 
and  is,  incidentally,  an  impartial  and  unanswerable  argument  as  to  the  validity 
of  Eainier's  title.    This  is  the  extract  from  Director  Smith's  letter: 

"First  let  me  call  your  notice  to  the  fact  that  you  find  no  trouble 
in  using  the  name  of  Captain  Puget,  although  your  pen  stumbles  over 
the  name  of  Admiral  Eainier.  As  I  understand  it,  both  were  English- 
men, with  the  same  prejudices  and  much  the  same  training.  Xor  would 
I  expect  you  to  object  to  the  name  given  to  the  sister  volcano  in  Whatcom 
County,  namely.  Mount  Baker." 

I  consider  personally  that  the  patriotic  argument  advanced  as  the  chief 
cause  for  desiring  this  change  is  unworthy  of  Tacoma,  and  now  that  we  are 
allied  with  the  great  British  nation  in  a  contest  for  world  freedom  and  for 
civilization  itself,  it  cannot  but  be  construed  by  our  Anglo-Saxon  brethren, 
either  across  the  water  or  across  the  Canadian  line,  almost  within  the  shadow 
of  this  great  mountain,  as  an  unfriendly  act.  I  think  it  is  most  deplorable 
that  such  an  issue  should  have  been  raised,  and  I  am  frank  to  say  that  I  feel 
a  sense  of  personal  outrage  from  the  propagation  of  such  sentiments  as  an  ex- 
pression of  the  State  of  Washington. 

We  are  here  to  present  to  this  Honorable  Board  an  orderly  array  of 
incontrovertible  facts  for  the  purpose  of  settling  this  matter  once  more  and, 
we  believe,  for  all  time.  We  shall  show  that  the  name  "Rainier"  has  a  perfect 
title  and  is  the  only  name  possible  under  historic  precedent. 

That  it  was  universally  recognized  as  the  name  of  the  mountain  until  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  issued  its  famous  mandate  changing  the  name  to 
Tacoma. 

That  even  after  said  mandate  Tacoma  newspapers  continued  occasionally 

39 


to  call  the  mountain  "Eainier"  because  they  found  it  difficult  to  make  the 
change. 

That  this  action  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  created  such  confusion 
that  the  United  States  Board  of  Geographic  Names  made  a  complete  investiga- 
tion and  confirmed  the  name  "Rainier".  That  thereafter  even  the  railroad  com- 
pany adopted  the  name  "Rainier"  and  only  the  city  of  Tacoma  refused  to 
abide  by  the  decision  of  this  Board,  and  now  asks  for  a  reversal  of  that  judg- 
ment because  of  its  own  obduracy,  and  for  no  other  reason. 

That  the  word  "Tacoma"  was  the  invention  of  Theodore  Winthrop, 
although  a  word  resembling  it  was  probably  a  generic  term  applied  to  all  snow 
peaks,  and  we  will  show  from  Winthrop's  own  writings  that  he  acknowledged 
the  word  to  be  a  generic  term,  completely  annulling  the  claim  that  it  was  the 
specific  name  for  Mt.  Rainier. 

The  case  on  the  facts  will  be  presented  by  Mr.  Victor  J.  Farrar,  Research 
Assistant  of  the  University  of  Washington,  in  the  Department  of  History,  the 
man  who,  in  my  opinion,  knows  the  facts,  without  bias  or  prejudice,  better  than 
any  other  living  person.  He  has  only  been  in  Washington  three  years,  fresh 
from  an  Eastern  university,  and  during  that  time  has  done  nothing  but  delve 
in  obscure  points  in  Pacific  Northwest  history. 

We  were  extremely  fortunate  in  the  fact  that  Mr.  Farrar  had  secured  a 
leave  of  absence  from  the  university  and  was  on  the  point  of  coming  East  to 
visit  his  mother  before  enlisting  in  his  countrj-'s  service,  and  that  from  his 
professional  interest  he  consented  to  present  the  purely  historical  side  of  this 
matter.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  introducing  Mr.  Farrar,  of  the  University  of 
Washington. 

(Before  Mr.  Farrar  could  proceed.  Congressman  Johnson  denied  his  right 
to  testify  because  he  was  a  member  of  the  faculty  of  the  University  of  Wash- 
ington, and  in  every  way  sought  to  prevent  the  witness  from  testifying.  Mr. 
Farrar  stated  that  he  had  not  surrendered  his  citizenship;  that  he  was  East 
on  a  leave  of  absence  and  had  no  interest  in  the  matter  whatever  aside  from 
that  of  historical  truth.  Mr.  Conover  asked  Mr.  Johnson  if  he  were  not  on  the 
Federal  payroll  and  whether  he  felt  that  that  fact  disqualified  him  from  appear- 
ing at  the  present  hearing.  Mr.  Farrar  was  allowed  to  proceed,  but  was  again 
subjected  to  a  violent  interruption  during  his  remarks  by  Congressman  John- 
son, who  demanded  to  know  from  what  source  the  various  works  of  reference 
which  Mr.  Farrar*  submitted  had  been  secured.  Mr.  Farrar  explained  that 
he  owned  some,  that  Mr.  Conover  owned  some,  C.  B.  Bagley  owned  some,  and 
that  one  belonged  to  the  University  of  Washington  library.  This  statement 
brought  out  a  demand  from  Mr.  Johnson  to  know  when  the  University  of 
Washington  library-  book  had  been  taken  out,  but  as  that  was  not  considered 
a  relevant  point  Mr.  Farrar  was  again  allowed  to  proceed.) 

40 


HISTORICAL  STATEMENT  BY  VICTOR  J.  FARRAR 

Gentlemen  :  The  Senate  Joint  Memorial  passed  by  the  legislature  of 
the  state  of  Washington  in  February,  1917,  petitions  your  honorable  body  "to 
substitute  for  the  name  'Kainier'  the  most  appropriate  name  that  you  may 
select  after  having  given  a  hearing  to  those  who  may  desire  to  present  evidence 
as  to  what  that  name  should  be". 

Of  course  everybody  present  understands  that  the  delegation  from  Tacoma 
wishes  to  bave  the  name  'Eainier'  removed  and  the  name  'Tacoma"  substituted. 
In  my  present  argument  I  shall  endeavor  to  do  two  things:  First,  to  show 
that  the  name  Rainier  has  a  perfect  title,  and  second,  to  show  that  if  your 
Honorable  Body  wishes  to  substitute  a  name  therefor  that  the  name  "Tacoma" 
from  a  historical  standpoint  is  not  the  proper  name  to  substitute. 

First,  as  to  the  title  of  Mount  Rainier.  Some  persons  have  contended 
that  Captain  George  Vancouver  had  no  right  to  name  this  mountain.  If 
there  is  any  doubt  auiong  the  members  of  this  Honorable  Body  as  to  tbe  right 
of  Vancouver  to  name  this  mountain  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  an  article  by 
Mr.  George  Davidson  entitled  "The  Xame  'Mount  Rainier'  "  in  Sierra  Club 
Bulletin,  No.  35,  Januar}^  1907,  pp.  87,  and  following.  In  this  article  Mr. 
Davidson  in  almost  verbatim  language  says. 

The  accepted  right  of  the  discoverer  in  a  new  country  with  un- 
civilized inhabitants,  or  with  no  inhabitants  to  apply  geographic  names, 
has  never  been  traversed  by  competent  authority. 

Now  that  accepted  right  of  the  explorer  needs  very  little  argument.  It  is 
the  same  right  under  which  Wilkes,  Fremont,  Stevens,  Davidson,  Alden,  Kel- 
lett,  Inski])  and  Richards  labored.  In  accordance  with  that  right  Vancouver 
named  the  highest  mountain  in  the  now  state  of  Washington,  and  in  his  journal 
of  May  8,  1792,  he  records: 

• 

"The  weather  was  serene  and  pleasant,  and  the  country  continued  to 
exhibit,  between  us  and  the  eastern  snowy  range,  the  same  luxurious  ap- 
pearance. At  its  northern  extremity.  Mount  Baker  bore  by  compass  N. 
22  E. ;  tbe  round  snowy  mountain,  now  forming  its  southern  extremity, 
and  which,  after  mv  friend  Rear  Admiral  Rainier,  I  distinguished  by  the 
name  of  MOUNT  RAINIER,  bore  S.  42  E." 

Judge  Wickersham  has  contended  that  Vancouver  was  not  the  discoverer 
of  this  mountain  although  he  admits  the  right  of  the  discoverer  to  name  the 
mountain.  I  hold  that  Vancouver  was  the  first  person  to  discover  the  moun- 
tain since  I  find  that  the  Spanish  in  their  records  announce  no  discovery  of 
it  nor  is  it  set  down  on  their  charts.  Judge  Wickersham  may  infer  that  siuce 
the  Spanish  were  on  the  coast  prior  to  Vancouver  they  must  needs  have  seen 
the  mountain.    He  is  entitled  to  his  own  opinion  but  this  does  not  constitute 

41 


a  discovery.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Spanish  explorations  did  not  extend 
further  south  in  Puget  Sound  than  about  the  middle  of  Whidbey  Island. 

Further,  other  persons  have  contended  that  Vancouver  was  not  free  to 
choose  names ;  that  he  ignored  the  Indian  name  of  the  mountain  which  he  had 
no  right  to  do.  I  find  no  precedent  for  such  a  contention.  No  Indian  name 
has  priority  over  a  civilized  name.  Were  such  a  contention  valid  most  of  the 
civilized  names  would  disappear  or,  rather  would  never  have  appeared.  Even 
the  site  of  the  city  of  Tacoma  has  its  Indian  name  (Shuhballup),  but  there  has 
never  been  a  desire  on  the  part  of  that  city  to  go  back  to  the  aboriginal  name. 
Only  Eainier  is  questioned. 

That  Vancouver  had  the  right  to  name  the  mountain  is  well  attested  by 
the  fact  that  since  1792  no  geographer  of  any  nationality  has  ever  challenged 
the  name. 

Despite  the  fact  that  Mount  Eainier  was  officially  recognized  throughout 
the  world  certain  individuals  from  various  motives  have  endeavored  at  one 
time  or  other  to  substitute  another  name,  and  in  these  efforts  the  Tacoma  peo- 
ple were  not  first. 

In  1839,  Hall  J.  Kelley,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  in  the  interest  of  the  American 
side  of  the  "Oregon  Question,"  issued  a  memoir  (in  Eeport  to  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Affairs,  House  Eeport  Xo.  101,  25  C,  3  S.,  Serial  Xo.  351,  pp. 
47-61)  in  which  he  urged  that  the  Cascade  Mountains  be  called  the  Presidents' 
Eange  and  that  the  various  peaks  therein  be  named  after  the  ex-presidents  of 
the  United  States.  Kelley  put  this  system  of  nomenclature  into  opepration  upon 
his  own  authority.  He  distributed  the  presidents'  names  from  Washington  to 
Jackson  on  such  peaks  as  he  saw  fit.  He  ran  out  of  ex-presidents'  names  and, 
therefore,  did  not  depose  Mount  Eainier.  J.  Quinn  Thornton,  in  1849  (Ore- 
gon and  California,  New  York,  1849,  Vol.  1,  p.  316),  carried  Kelley's  scheme 
further  and  removed  Eainier  in  favor  of  Harrison.  A  third  exponent  extended 
the  list  to  include  Tyler  (L.  W.  Hastings,  A  New  Description  of  Oregon 'and 
California.  Cincinnati,  1857,  pp.  24-26).  By  that  time  there  appeared  some 
rivalry  and  confusion  among  the  Kelley  exponents,  and  Mount  Baker  some- 
times appears  as  Mount  Tyler  and  at  other  times  as  Mount  Polk.  This  system 
never  had  official  or  extensive  local  usage.  One  had  to  get  a  book  or  check-list 
to  keep  the  names  straight.    The  system  was,  in  fact,  only  a  historical  curiosity. 

Thus  ended  the  first  effort  to  change  the  name  of  Mount  Eainier. 

In  the  spring  of  1853  Theodore  Winthrop,  a  graduate  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, came  to  Fort  Vancouver.  He  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Pacific  ^lail 
Steamship  Company  and  was  then  on  leave  of  absence.  After  a  tour  about 
Puget  Sound  Winthrop  decided  to  return  to  the  Columbia  Eiver  via  the  Cas- 
cade Mountains,  and  on  the  23d  day  of  August,  1853.  secured  at  Fort  Nisqually 

42 


an  Indian  guide  and  three  horses,  crossed  the  mountains  through  the  Caches 
Pass  nortli  of  Mount  Eainier,  reached  his  destination,  returned  home  and  the 
Sound  witnessed  his  presence  no  more.  He  was  killed  in  the  Civil  War  and 
in  18(32  his  family  published  his  work,  entitled  "The  Canoe  and  the  Saddle." 
In  a  cliapter  called  "Tacoma  and  the  Indian  Legend  of  Hamitchou,"  Winthrop 
introduced  the  word  "Tacoma"  in  these  words: 

"Of  all  the  peaks  from  California  to  Frazer's  Eiver,  this  one  before 
me  was  royalist.  Mount  Eegnier,  Christians  have  dubbed  it,  in  stupid 
nomenclature  perpetuating  the  name  of  somebody  or  nobody.  More  me- 
lodiously the  Siwashes  call  it  Tacoma — a  generic  term  also  applied  to  all 
snow  peaks." 

This  was  the  firsi  appearance  of  the  word  "Tacoma."  It  was  a  poetical 
appearance  even  on  Winthrop's  part  for  in  his  letters  to  his  mother,  he  uses 
the  official  name  of  Mount  Rainier.  Thus,  in  a  letter  dated  Fort  Xisqually, 
Puget  Sound,  July  23d,  1853,  appear  these  excerpts: 

"*  *  *  Over  the  trees  that  belted  the  river,  nearer  than  ever 
arose  graceful  St.  Helen's,  and  now  first  clearly  seen,  the  immense  hulk 
of  Eainier,  the  most  massive  of  all — grand,  grand  above  the  plain!" 
*  *  *  "Had  a  jolly  time — splendid  sheet  of  water  with  islands  and 
nooks  of  bays.     Mount  Eainier  hung  up  in  the  air." 

Winthrop's  book  made  its  appearance  on  the  Sound  some  three  years  after 
publication,  but  the  name  "Tacoma"  for  a  great  many  years  afterwards  was 
not  known  to  the  great  body  of  pioneers.  It  is  said  to  have  been  first  locally 
applied  to  a  hotel  and  a  lodge  of  Good  Templars  in  Olympia. 

In  1868,  Morton  M.  McCarver,  a  pioneer  town-builder,  founder  of  Bur- 
lington, Iowa,  Linnton,  Oregon,  and  Sacramento,  California,  came  to  Puget 
Sound  with  the  idea  of  founding  a  city  on  the  site  of  the  proposed  Northern 
Pacific  Eailroad  terminus.  In  the  spring  of  that  year  McCarver  repaired  to 
Olympia  where  he  secured  a  land-office  map  of  the  territory  of  Washington, 
and  after  some  deliberation  decided  that  the  most  likely  site  of  the  proposed 
terminus  would  be  Commencement  Bay  opposite  the  Snoqualmie  Pass.  Acting 
upon  this  idea  he  went  to  Commencement  Bay,  became  acquainted  with  Job 
Carr,  who  was  proving  up  on  a  land  claim,  and  the  latter  agreed  to  sell.  Mc- 
Carver' subsequently  located  his  town-site  on  this  claim.  He  was  not  connected 
with  the  >;orthern  Pacific  Eailroad,  although  the  selection  of  his  town  as  the 
terminus  of  the  railroad  was  the  all  important  consideration.  He  did  all  in 
his  power  to  interest  the  ISTorthem  Pacific  Eailroad  in  his  town  and  his  efforts 
were  successful.  At  this  time  McCarver's  new  town  had  no  name.  He  subse- 
quently selected  the  name  of  "Tacoma."  Eegarding  that  event,  I  wish  to 
quote  from  a  book  entitled  "McCarver  and  Tacoma,"  by  Thomas  W.  Prosch, 
son-in-law  of  Mr.  McCarver,  and  editor  of  the  first  newspaper  published  in 
Tacoma : 

43 


"On  Friday,  the  11th  of  September,  1868,  Mr.  Philip  Kitz  landed 
at  Steilacoom  from  the  steamer  George  S.  Wright.  *  *  *  jjg  y,g^ 
then  on  a  trip  acquiring  information  for  use  in  the  interest  of  the  Xorth- 
em  Pacific  Eailroad.  He  wanted  to  see  the  site  of  the  contemplated  new 
Puget  Sound  town,  and  he  also  wanted  to  suggest  a  name  for  it.  He 
rode  over  the  reservation,  and  from  there  went  bv  canoe  to  the  house  of 
the  ]\IcCarvers,  and  later  spent  the  night  at  Job  Carr's.  That  evening 
and  the  next  morning  he  talked  with  all  the  eloquence  in  him  the  name 
Tacoma.  He  told  of  a  recently  issued  book  called  'The  Canoe  and  the 
Saddle,'  which  he  had  just  read.  It  was,  he  said,  written  by  one  Theodore 
\^'inthrop,  who  had  been  on  the  Sound  fifteen  years  before,  and  who,  on 
the  22d  day  of  August,  1853.  crossed  the  harbor  then  in  front  of  them. 
*  *  *  Mr.  Ritz's  presentation  was  convincing  to  the  wife  and  daugh- 
ters of  General  McCarver." 

Aft^r  the  naane  "Tacoma"  was  applied  to  the  town  few  persons  on  the 
Sound  for  years  afterwards  knew  its  origin,  or  if  they  did,  questioned  the 
right  of  the  mountain  to  be  known  as  Eainier.  In  fact,  from  1868  until  1883, 
practically  nobody  inside  or  outside  of  the  city  of  Tacoma  used  any  other 
designation  for  the  mountain  than  Mount  Eainier.  I  wish  especially  to  refer 
you  to  the  files  of  newspapers  published  in  the  city  of  Tacoma  during  these 
years.  I  have  recently  examined  papers  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Clarence  B. 
Bagley,  of  Seattle,  and  I  find  an  almost  unanimous  use  of  the  designation 
Mount  Eainier  therein.  As  to  this  usage  I  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  this 
honorable  body  to  the  following  issues : 

On  December  15,  1879,  the  Tacoma  North  Pacific  Coast  says:  "Back  of 
Steilacoom  are  the  gravelly  plains,  interspersed  with  beautiful  lakes  and  groves. 
In  the  rear  ground  of  this  natural  park  stands  majestic  Eainier." 

In  the  yorth  Pacific  Coast,  December  15,  1879,  is  reprinted  an  article 
from  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle,  written  by  E.  F.  Eadebaugh,  with  this 
sentence :  "The  pass  is  to  the  south  of  Mount  Eainier  about  twenty  miles  and 
was  recently  discovered  as  feasible,''  etc. 

Under  date  of  January  1,  1880,  the  same  paper  prints  a  poem  by  Belle 
W.  Cooke,  entitled  "Mount  Tacoma;"  also  a  reprint  of  an  article  by  Hazard 
Stevens,  entitled  "The  Ascent  of  Takhoma."  In  the  same  issue  is  this  editorial 
comment : 

"In  the  poem  by  Mrs.  Cooke  and  in  Hazard  Stevens'  'Ascent'  of 
Mount  Eainier,  which  we  republish  from  the  'Atlantic,'  we  have  followed 
the  author's  s})elling.  We  do  not  suppose  that  names  so  well  established 
as  are  Puget  Sound,  Moimt  Eainier,  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca,  can  be 
changed  by  an  author's  sentiment  or  an  editor's  whim,  so  we  shall  con- 
tinue to  apply  the  name  of  the  old  English  Eear-Admiral  to  our  mountain 
and  call  it  Rainier." 

In  the  North  Pacific  Coast  of  March  30,  1881,  appear  these  words :    "The 

44 


loftiest  peaks  of  the  Cascade  chain  are  in  order  of  height  as  follows:  Mount 
St.  ElJas  in  Alaska,  22,000  feet;  Mount  Rainier  in  Washington,  18,000  feet," 
etc. 

In  the  Tacoma  WeeMy  Ledger  of  July  7,  1882,  is  an  item  referring  to 
glaciers  on  Mount  Eainier. 

In  the  Tacoma  News  of  November  IG,  1882,  is  an  article  entitled  "Ap- 
proaching Mount  Eainier." 

In  the  Tacoma  Weekly  Ledger  of  November  17,  1882,  is  a  quotation  from 
the  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer  regarding  Mount  Rainier. 

In  the  Tacoma  WeeMy  Ledger  of  January  5,  1883,  is  an  article  regarding 
the  cutting  of  a  new  trail  to  the  glaciers  on  Mount  Rainier. 

In  the  Tacoma  News  of  Februan-  22,  1883,  is  an  article  embracing  a 
description  of  sunset  on  Mount  Rainier,  also  an  article  descriptive  of  glacial 
formations  of  Mount  Rainier, 

In  the  Tacoma  Weekly  Ledger  of  February  23,  1883,  is  an  article  on  New 
Tacoma,  referring  to  the  snow-capped  summit  of  Mount  Rainier. 

In  most  of  the  above  issues  appears  the  following  lodge  notice :  "Rainier 
Lodge,  No.  11,  I.  0.  0.  F.,  meets  on  Tuesday  evenings  at  the  Masonic  Hall. 
Members  in  good  standing  invited." 

It  seems  probable  that  the  people  of  Tacoma  would  have  gone  on  using 
the  name  Mount  Rainier  had  not  an  event  caused  them  to  change  to  "Mount 
Tacoma."  In  March,  1883,  the  Northwest  Magazine,  published  in  New  York 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  announced  that: 

"The  Indian  name  Tacoma  will  hereafter  be  used  in  the  guide  books 
and  other  publications  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  and  the  Oregon 
Railway  &  Navigation  Co.,  instead  of  Rainier,  which  the  English  Captain 
Vancouver  gave  to  this  magnificent  peak  when  he  explored  the  waters  of 
Puget  Sound  in  the  last  century." 

From  this  event  dates  this  present  controversy. 

Following  this  mandate  the  people  of  Tacoma  commenced  a  campaign  to 
depose  the  name  Rainier  and  to  substitute  the  name  "Tacoma." 

Clinton  A.  Snowden,  in  his  History  of  Washington,  Vol.  IV,  p.  250, 
traces  the  beginnings  of  this  controversy  in  these  words : 

"The  Tacoma  Ledger  quoted  the  above  announcement  in  a  brief  edi- 
torial, when  the  magazine  reached  the  coast  some  weeks  later,  and  added 
that  'The  name  Rainier  never  had  any  appropriateness,  for  it  was  adopted 
as  a  compliment  to  an  English  admiral,  who  never  saw  the  mountain.  If 
the  newspapers  in  Oregon  and  Washington  will  join  in  the  effort  to  restore 

45 


the  musical  and  significant  Indian  title,  the  change  can  be  fully  accom- 
plished in  a  few  years.' 

"However  this  suggestion  might  have  been  regarded  under  other  cir- 
cumstances, it  was  not  approved  by  the  newspapers  referred  to.  Those 
of  Seattle  received  it  with  derision,  and  most  of  the  othei-s  in  the  terri- 
tory outside  of  Tacoma,  with  more  or  less  vigorous  disapproval.     *     *     * 

"The  newspapers  and  people  of  Oregon  joined  tliis  opposition.  The 
attempt  to  change  the  ancient  name  of  the  majestic  mountain  was  de- 
clared to  be  nothing  less  than  sacrilege." 

As  to  the  ill-feeling  and  confusion  which  was  resulting  I  wish  to  call  to 
the  attention  of  this  honorable  body  the  following  issues: 

The  Tacoma  Daily  News  under  date  of  May  16,  1884,  reprinted  an  article 
from  the  Seattle  Post  containing  these  words:  "It  [The  Tacoma  Dailj/  Xeics] 
is  continually,  in  the  language  and  writings  of  others,  changing  Rainier  into 
Tacoma,"  etc. 

The  Tacoma  Daily  Xcws,  under  date  of  July  12,  1884,  in  a  contributed 
article  said :  "I  went  out  to  Mount  Tacoma — which  by  the  way,  is  Mount 
Rainier  everj'where  except  in  Tacoma — about  sixty  miles  from  the  city." 

The  Tacoma  Daily  News,  under  date  of  July  21,  1884,  in  another  con- 
tributed article,  said :  "To  the  right  appears  the  Cascade  Mountains  and  the 
hoary  peaks  of  Mount  Tacoma,  14,444  feet  high,  or  Rainier,  as  you  niust  call 
it  in  Seattle." 

The  "Tacoma"  propaganda  knew  no  botmds.  It  was  not  limited  by  the 
mountain  or  the  city.  It  happened  that  the  territory  of  Washington  was  ready 
to  come  into  the  union  as  a  state  and  as  there  had  always  been  more  or  less 
confusion  between  Washington  State  and  Washington,  D.  C,  many  persons 
thought  a  change  of  name  on  the  part  of  the  proposed  state  advisable.  The 
people  of  Tacoma  went  so  far  as  to  advocate  the  name  "Tacoma"  for  the 
future  state.  On  this  subject  the  Yakima  Signal,  under  date  of  May  22,  1884, 
published  the  following  article: 

"The  proposition  to  name  our  future  state  Tacoma  is  stix)ngly  op- 
posed by  papers  throughout  the  Territory.  While  all  are  agreed  that  the 
name  ought  by  all  means  to  be  changed  at  the  time  of  admission  to  state- 
hood, it  is  also  generally  agreed  that  to  name  the  state  Tacoma  would  not 
improve  matters  much  and  that  some  name  should  be  selected  which  is 
not  now  appropriated  by  any  city,  and  that  this  name  should,  if  possible, 
have  some  geographic  or  topographical  significance." 

The  "Tacoma  State"  propaganda  made  considerable  headway  as  the  fol- 
lowing, from  Cornelius  H.  Hanford,  ex-Justice  of  the  United  States  District 
Court  in  the  State  of  Washington,  will  show : 

"A  few  months  prior  to  the  passage  by  Congress  of  the  Enabling 
Act  under  which  the  states  of  Washington,  Montana,  Xorth  Dakota  and 

46 


South  Dakota  were  adinitted  into  the  Union,  I  attended  a  convention  of 
citizens  of  Washington  Territory  held  for  the  purpose  of  devising  means 
whereby  to  obtain  admission  of  Washington  Territory  into  the  Union  as 
a  state.  That  convention  was  held  at  North  Yakima,  a  city  near  the 
geographical  center  of  the  territory,  and  the  attendance  was  fairly  repre- 
sentative of  all  parts  of  the  territory.  Tacoma  propagandists  were  there 
urging  the  adoption  of  that  name  for  the  state,  and  the  subject  was 
referred  to  a  committee  which  made  a  report  strongly  adverse  to  changing 
the  name  of  the  commonwealth,  and  that  report  was  adopted  enthusiasti- 
cally by  the  convention." 

The  "Tacoma  State"  propaganda  was  lost  but  the  "Mount  Tacoma" 
propaganda  continued  unabated  and  was  finally  referred  to  the  United  States 
authorities  for  adjudication.  On  the  4th  of  September,  1890,  President  Har- 
rison issued  an  executive  order  for  the  organization  of  the  United  States  Board 
of  Geographic  Names,  composed  of  the  following  men: 

Professor  Thos  C.  Mendenhall,  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey, 
Chairman. 

Andrew  H.  Allen,  Department  of  State. 

Captain  Henry  U.  Howison,  Lighthouse  Board,  Treasury  depart- 
ment. 

Captain  Thomas  Tuttle,  Engineer  Corps,  War  Department. 

Lieutenant  Richardson  Clover,  Hydrographic  Office,  Xavy  Depart- 
ment. 

Pierson  H.   Bristow,  Postoffice  Department. 

Otis  T.   Mason,   Smithsonian  Institution. 

Herbert  G.  Ogdeh,  United  States  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey 

Henry  Gannett,  United  States  Geological  Survey 

Marcus  Baker,  Ignited  States  Geological  Survey. 

This  board  decided  unanimously  in  favor  of  the  name  Mount  Rainier. 
I  shall  read  herewith  a  portion  of  a  letter  from  Lieutenant  (now  Rear  Ad- 
miral) Richardson  Clover,  a  member  of  the  board,  to  the  Hon.  John  F.  Miller, 
M.  C,  under  date  of  May  1,  1917: 

I  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Geographic  Board  appointed 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  I  was  the  secretary  of  the  board  and 
one  of  the  three  of  the  executive  committee.  The  founders  of  the  North- 
em  Pacific  Railroad  had  made  and  were  giving  away  a  fine  map  of  the 
North  country  and  having  settled  then  that  their  road  should  terminate 
at  Tacoma  appropriated  Mt.  Rainier,  which  looks  so  beautiful  from  that 
place,  and  changed  on  their  map  the  name  to  Mt.  Tacoma  and  it  was 
rapidly  becoming  fixed  w'ith  the  new  population  who  naturally  were 
iising  the  free  railroad  map.  The  Geographic  Board  in  the  course  of  its 
work  took  these  names  under  consideration  and  without  a  dissenting  vote 

47 


reaffirmed  the  name  Bainier  given  it  by  Vancouver  when  he  first  saw  the 
mountain. 

Whatever  may  be  said  for  or  against  the  name  Mount  Rainier,  the  deci- 
sion of  this  board  was  final.  I  have  always  regarded  that  decision  as  I  would 
a  decision  of  a  supreme  court. 

It  is,  of  course,  quite  possible  for  this  honorable  body  to  make  an  arbitrary 
decision  and  to  substitute  some  name  for  the  name  Mount  Rainier.  I  wish 
to  introduce  certain  evidence  to  show  that  from  the  historical  standpoint  the 
name  "Tacoma"  is  not  the  best  name  to  be  substituted.  I  shall  introduce  evi- 
dence to  show  that  there  are  other  names  of  Indian  origin  for  Mount  Rainier ; 
that  the  genuineness  of  the  name  "Tacoma"  as  an  Indian  word  has  been  ques- 
tioned by  competent  authorities;  that  the  name  "Tacoma"  at  best  is  not  a 
specific  name  but  a  generic  term ;  and  finally  that  many  authorities  believe  the 
word  "Tacoma"  to  be  a  white  man's  word  which  has  crept  into  the  Indian's 
language. 

Dr.  William  Fraser  Tolmie,  clerk  and  surgeon  in  the  employ  of  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company,  in  his  journal  under  date  of  May  31,  1833.  records  the 
Indian  name  of  Mount  Rainier  as  "Puskehouse,"  in  these  words: 

"The  prairie  now  seemed  encircled  with  trees,  which  arose  a  bristling 
serraded  wall  around,  St.  Helens  bearing  east  towards  high,  unenclosed 
magnificence  and  the  other  mountain,  called  by  the  Indians  'Puskehouse' 
(Rainier)  bore  E.  N.  E.  at  summit  divided  into  rounded  eminences,  with 
a  narrow,  intervening  hollow,  to  fomi  suggesting  the  vulgar  comparison 
with  that  of  Dunbarton  rock  has  for  ages  been  the  highest  and  most 
easterly  eminence,  and  has  a  black  precipitous  face,  while  the  remainder 
is  nestled  in  snow." 

1'his  name,  introduced  by  a  disinterested  party,  twenty  years  before  set- 
tlement seriously  began,  thirty  yeai*s  Ijefore  the  appearance  of  Winthrop's 
"Canoe  and  the  Saddle,"  and  fifty  years  before  the  controversy,  demands  serious 
consideration  from  all  persons  who  are  urging  the  restoration  of  the  true 
Indian  name. 

Peter  C.  Stanup,  son  of  Jonas  Stanup,  sub-Chief  of  the  Puyallup  Indians, 
quoted  in  the  autobiography  of  the  late  Samuel  L.  Crawford,  on  page  37,  gives 
the  Indian  name  of  the  mountain  as  "Tiswauk,"  in  these  words: 

*  *  *"  'Certain  tribes  of  Indians,  including  the  Puyallup  Indians, 
in  speaking  of  any  high  range  of  mountains  called  them  Takhoman,  but 
each  mountain  has  its  separate  name,  and  the  Indian  name  for  Rainier  is 
Tiswauk.' " 

Mr.  F.  H.  WTiitworth,  interpreter  for  the  Superintendency  of  Indian  Af- 
fairs for  Washington  imder  Hale  and  AVaterman.  confirms  the  Indian  name 
"Tiswauk"  in  these  words: 

48 


"In  all  that  time  I  have  never  heard  the  mountain  referred  to  by 
them  (the  Indians)  as  anything  but  'Stiquak'  (or  'Tiswauk'),  'Lainier' 
(K  is  L  on  an  Indian's  tongue),  or  'Lalemite'  (the  mountain).  I  have 
never  heard  the  name  Tacoma  applied  to  the  mountain  by  any  Indian; 
nor  had  I  ever  heard  this  name  applied  to  the  mountain  by  any  white 
man  until  after  the  publication  of  Theodore  Winthrop's  'Canoe  and 
Saddle'." 

Father  Boulet,  a  missionary  who  has  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life- 
time among  the  various  tribes  of  Indians  on  Puget  Sound,  gives  the  Indian 
name  as  "Tu-ah-ku."  I  refer  to  a  letter  published  in  the  State  Historical 
Society  of  Washingto^  Publications,  Vol.  II,  p.  444.  Mr.  Eoss,  speaking  for 
Father  Boulet,  says : 

"He  tells  me  the  word  'Ta-ho-ma'  does  not  mean  the  great  mountain 
but  'White  Rock';  that  it  was  the  Indian  name  for  Mt.  Baker,  and  was 
applied  to  this  mountain  exclusively.  The  name  applied  to  the  mountain 
southeast  of  Tacoma  by  the  Puyallup  Indians  as  'Ta-ah-ku.' 

'J'he  name  "Tu-ah-ku"  is  confirmed  by  Myron  P^ells  in  the  American 
Anthropologist  for  January,  1892,  in  these  words: 

"A  very  intelligent  Pm^allup  Indian,  whose  reservation  is  near  the 
foot  of  the  mountain,  told  me  that  it  (Tacoma)  means  'the  mountain', 
being  pronounced  by  his  people  'Takoba',  but  that  this  was  not  the  name 
bv  which  the  Indians  originallv  called  it,  as  their  name  was  'Tuwakhu' 
or  'Twahwauk.'" 

Thus  we  have  "Puskehouse,"  "Tiswauk"  and  "Tuahku"  given  as  the  true 
Indian  names  of  Mount  Rainier  by  independent,  competent  and  trustworthy 
authorities. 

Again,  many  authorities  deny  the  genuineness  of  the  word  "Tacoma"  as 
the  Indian  designation  for  Mount  Rainier. 

David  Graham,  a  resident  of  the  Puget  Sound  Country  since  1857,  states: 

"In  the  early  days  I  was  a  school  teacher  and  was  engaged  in  voca- 
tions that  took  me  about  the  country  a  great  deal,  especially  in  Pierce 
and  Thurston  counties,  and  never  did  I  hear  the  mountain  called  anything 
but  Rainier;  in  my  judgment  there  is  no  more  justification  for  the  use 
of  the  word  Tacoma  in  this  connection  than  there  was  for  the  attempt  to 
name  the  state  of  Washington  Tacoma  when  it  was  admitted  to  state- 
hood." 

^[r.  L.  W.  Bonney,  son  of  Sherwood  F.  Bonney,  a  pioneer  of  1853  near 
Tacoma,  says: 

"I  never  heard  the  mountain  called  by  any  other  name  than  Rainier 
by  either  Indians  or  whites  until  about  1878,  or  until  the  Xorthern  Pacific 
Railroad  Company's  terminus  was  located  at  Tacoma." 

Judge  Cornelius  H.  Hanford,  of  the  United  States  District  Court  for 
A\'ashington  and  a  resident  of  the  territory  and  state  since  boyhood,  states: 

49 


"If  an  Indian  ever  gave  that  word  or  any  word  having  a  similarity 
of  sound  he  probably  meant  to  say  'Tacope  Butte',  Tacope  being  a  word 
of  the  Chinook  jargon  which  means  white,  and  butte  means  hill  or  moun- 
tain. The  designation  white  hill  would  probably  be  given  by  any  Indian 
in  lieu  of  a  particular  name  for  any  snow-covered  mountain." 

Hon.  Clarence  B.  Bagley,  president  of  the  Washington  State  University 
Historical  Society  and  a  pioneer  of  1852,  states: 

"Until  the  appearance  of  Winthrop's  book,  'Canoe  and  Saddle', 
Mount  Kainier  was  the  only  naane  in  use  in  newspaper  and  more  serious 
literature.  *  *  *  j  j^^^g  talked  with  one  hundred  or  more  of  the 
true  pioneers  of  Western  Washington  who  came  here  in  the  'fifties  or  prior 
to  that  time,  and  every  one  of  them  has  told  me  that  he  or  she  had  never 
heard  the  name  Tacoma  applied  to  Mount  Eainier  until  after  the  appear- 
ance here  of  'Canoe  and  Saddle'.'' 

Mr.  Thomas  W.  Prosch,  son-in-law  of  Gen.  McCarver,  in  the  Washington 
State  Historical  Society  Publications,  Vol.  II,  p.  458,  writes: 

"I  have  not  been  able  to  find  it  (Tacoma)  in  any  of  the  written  letters, 
records,  diaries,  narratives,  or  the  prints  of  the  territory  or  the  nation. 
Xone  of  the  early  representatives  of  the  British  or  Anierican  govern- 
ments— Vancouver,  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Wilkes,  Elijah  White,  Fremont, 
et  al. — seem  to  have  heard  of  it,  though  it  was  directly  in  their  line,  and 
so  also  may  be  said  of  the  first  missionaries,  the  Hudson  Bay  men,  the 
Governor  Stevens  expedition,  the  settlers  of  fifty  and  sixty  years  ago,  no 
one,  so  far  as  1  have  learned,  wrote  the  word,  put  it  in  type,  or  otherwise 
used  it  before  Winthrop.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  with  Meeker,  that  Win- 
throp  coined  the  word.  He  may  have  heard  it,  or  something  like  it, 
among  the  Indians,  and  he  used  it  in  his  'Canoe  and  Saddle'  book.  Win- 
throp was  a  stranger,  a  mere  passer-through,  and  it  must  have  been  diffi- 
cult for  him  to  communicate  intelligently  with  the  savages  al)Out  him. 
If  you  don't  think  so,  try  it  on  with  an  Indian,  even  now,  who  cannot 
speak  the  English,  which  was  the  case  with  the  Indians  generally  in  his 
day.  He  also  wrote  his  book  several  years  afterwards,  and  then  with  the 
help  of  a  Chinook  jargon  dictionary.  I  only  mean  to  say  that  the  word 
was  not  in  use  on  Puget  Sound  before  1866,  and  that  after  it  came  to  us 
but  few  of  us  for  a  number  of  years,  knew  its  alleged  meaning.  The 
knowledge  was  spread  rapidly,  however,  after  the  name  Tacoma  was  given 
to  the  town  on  Commencement  Bay  by  General  McCarver." 

Edward  Huggins,  last  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  traders  at  Fort  Nis- 
qually,  in  Snowden's  History  of  Washington,  Vol.  IV,  p.  252,  declared  he 
"  'had  never  heard  them  speak  of  the  mountain  by  any  other  name  than  le 
monte,  which  was  the  Chinook  name  for  it.'  " 

The  late  Harvey  W.  Scott,  veteran  editor  of  the  Portland  Orcgonian.  in 
an  article  reprinted  in  the  Tacoma  Z>at7y  NewS'  under  date  of  April  1,  1884. 
said : 

"To  the  imagination  of  Theodore  Winthrop  the  word  'Tacoma'.  or  at 

50 


least  its  perpetuation,  is  clue.  The  story  about  Mount  Eainier  which  he 
dressed  up  as  a  legend,  calling  it  'Tacoma',  has  given  a  name  to  an 
important  and  growing  town  and  may  give  the  name  to  a  state",  etc. 

Dr.  Charles  Milton  Buchanan,  for  twenty-five  years  superintendent  of 
the  Tulalip  Indian  Eeservation,  Tulalip,  Washington,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Benja- 
min L.  Harvey,  Tacoma,  Washington,  under  date  of  April  17,  1908,  denies 
Tacoma  to  be  an  Indian  word,  as  follows: 

"I  do  not  believe  that  the  word  'Tacoma'  is  known  to  any  of  the 
native  tribes  of  the  Puget  Sound  region  as,  generically,  a  genuine  Indian 
word  of  this  region.*     *     * 

"The  Tulalip  Indians  and  the  Puyallup  Indians  both  speak  dialectic 
va/riants  of  the  Niskwalli  linguistic  root  stock,  which  is  in  turn  a  variant 
of  the  Salishan  stock.  What  the  Puyallup  word  for  Tacoma  is,  or  for 
Mt.  Kainier  is,  I  do  not  know.  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  that  the 
Tulalip  Indians  have  ever  had  any  special  word  for  Eainier,  other  than 
to  speak  of  it  as  the  'mountain'  or  'the  mountain'.  Their  word  for  moun- 
tain is  'sbah-det.' 

"I  have  also  heard,  on  good  authority  (by  this  I  mean  Indian  author- 
ity, since  it  is  on  a  subject  concerning  which  an  intelligent  Indian  would 
probably  be  a  better  authority  than  even  an  intelligent  white  man)  that 
some  of  the  tribes  north  of  us  (allied  to  the  Clallams  and  the  Lummis) 
used  the  word  'Tah-hoh-mah'  (or  a  very  similar  word)  for  Mount  Baker, 
and  that  it  was  so  used  for  Mount  Baker  exclusively.  This  corroborates  the 
statement  of  the  Eeverend  Father  Boulet.     *     *     *" 

I  shall  now  proceed  to  produce  evidence  to  show  that  the  word  "Tacoma" 
is  not  the  specific  name  for  Mount  Eainier,  but  at  best  only  a  generic  term. 

Mr.  David  T.  Denny,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  City  of  Seattle,  in  the 
Post-Intelligencer  of  December  4,  1902,  states: 

"I  have  made  careful  inquiries  of  the  Indians  in  regard  to  their  name 
for  Mt.  Eainier  and  I  have  found  that  their  name  was  Tacobed,  which 
really  means  'Snow  Mountain',  and  I  understand  that  the  name  Tacobed 
applied  to  any  mountain  perpetually  covered  by  snow.  For  instance,  Mt. 
Hood,  Mt.  St.  Helens,  Mt.  Adams,  Mt.  Eainier  or  Mt.  Baker  would  be 
designated  as  Tacobed." 

Mrs.  Louisa  Boren  Denny,  his  wife,  says : 

"I  never  heard  the  name  Tacoma  until  comparatively  recent  years. 
In  the  early  days  I  used  to  talk  with  the  Indians  a  great  deal  and  I  am 
sure  that  if  they  had  called  the  mountain  Tacoma  I  should  have  known 
it.  They  gave  the  name  Tacobed  to  Mt.  Baker,  Mt.  Eainier  and  all  ranges 
of  snow  mountains  in  the  vicinity.  I  know  distinctly  that  Chief  Sealth, 
who  was  one  of  the  most  intelligent  Indians,  always  used  the  white  man's 
name  Eainier  and  in  the  early  days  we  never  knew  any  other  name.  I 
never  knew  of  any  Indian  name  for  any  specific  moimtain." 

Hon.  William  Bishop,  the  son  of  a  white  father  and  an  Indian  mother 

51 


of  the  Snohomish  tribe,  a  rich  stock  rancher  and  a  member  of  the  legislature 
for  ten  years,  states: 

"There  never  has  been  a  specific  Indian  name  for  Mt.  Rainier;  all 
the  Puget  Sound  Indians  called  Mt.  Olympus,  Mt.  Baker,  Mt.  St.  Helens, 
Mt.  Rainier,  Mt.  Adams,  and  all  the  high  snow  peaks  'Tahoma',  meaning 
high  mountain.  The  Xlsqually  and  Klickitat  Indians,  having  a  more 
gutteral  pronunciation,  used  the  word  Tacobet  for  all  high  peaks,  the 
difference  being  purely  a  matter  of  pronunciation. 

"Tacoma  is  not  an  Indian  word  of  the  Pacific  Xorthwest  and  no 
Puget  Sound  Indian  could  pronounce  the  word." 

The  late  Elwood  Evans,  an  eminent  Tacoma  lawyer  and  historian, 
the  possessor  of  one  of  the  greatest  historical  collections  on  the  Northwest, 
and  the  author  of  a  two-volume  work  entitled,  "History  of  Oregon  and  AYash- 
ington",  published  in  Portland,  1889,  in  volume  II,  on  page  155,  says: 

"By  the  latter  appellation  (Rainier)  it  was  known  to  all  the  early 
settlers  up  to  the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad 
to  Tacoma.  The  railroad  compaey  then  renamed  the  mountain  after  the 
city,  claiming  that  to  be  the  original  name  designating  its  title.  The 
truth  of  the  matter  is,  however,  that  the  Puyallup  Indians  inhabitating 
the  region,  called  all  snowy  peaks  by  the  same  name — 'i'ak-ho-ma — the 
meaning  of  which,  according  to  the  translation,  is  'the  breast  that  feeds' ; 
meaning  to  convey  the  idea  that  from  the  eternal  snows  come  the  perennial 
water  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Sound." 

Mrs.  Edward  Huggins,  wife  of  Edward  Huggins,  quoted  in  Snowden, 
page  252,  stated  that  Old  Schlousin,  or  Schlouskin,  said  that  the  mountain's 
name  was  Tachkoma,  "  'but  that  he  couldn't  give  any  further  information  as  to 
why  it  was  so  named  other  than  thait  anything  or  everything  in  the  shape 
of  a  mountain  or  large  moimd  covered  with  snow  was  named  Tach-koma.  or 
Tacobah'." 

Professor  William  B.  Lyman,  professor  of  history  in  Whitman  College, 
in  a  paper  published  in  the  proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society 
entitled  "Indian  Myths  of  the  Northwest",  for  October,  1915,  said: 

"One  confusing  condition  that  often  arises  with  Indian  names  and 
stories  is  that  some  Indians  use  a  word  generically  and  others  use  the 
same  word  specificially.  For  instance,  tlie  native  name  for  Mount  Adams, 
commonly  known  as  'Pahton",  and  Mount  Rainier  or  Tacoma,  better 
spelled  Tahkoma  as  sounded  by  the  Indians,  really  mean  any  high  moun- 
tain. A  Wasco  Indian  once  told  me  that  his  tribe  called  Mount  Hood 
Tahton',  meaning  the  'big  mountain',  but  that  the  Indians  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Columbia  River  applied  the  same  name  to  Adams. 

"A  very  intelligent  Puyallup  Indian  told  me  that  the  name  of  the 
'Great  AVhite  Mountain'  was  Tahkoma,  with  accent  and  prolonged  sound 
on  the  second  syllable,  but  that  any  snow  peak  was  the  same  with  the 
second  syllable  not  so  prolonged,  according  to  the  height  or  distance 

52 


of  the  peak.     Mount  St.  Helens  was  also  Tahkoma.  but  with  the  'ho'  not 
so  prolonged." 

Gen.  Hazard  Stevens  in  his  article,  "The  Ascent  of  Takhoma",  published 
in  the  Atlantic  Monthhj,  for  November,  1876,  says: 

"Tak-homa  or  Tahonia  among  the  Yakimas,  Klickitats,  Puyallups, 
Nisquallys,  and  allied  tribes  of  Indians  is  the  generic  term  for  mountain, 
used  precisely  as  we  used  the  word  'Blount',  as  Takhoma  Wynatchie,  or 
Mount  Wynatchie." 

j\Ir.  George  Otis  Smith,  Director  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey, 
"Washington,  D.  C,  in  a  letter  directed  to  Mr.  Benjamin  L.  Harvey,  February 
28,  1908,  and  published  in  the  publications  of  the  Washington  State  Historical 
Society,  Vol.11,  p.  440,  says: 

"In  1901,  I  was  in  charge  of  the  investigation  of  the  Xorthwestem 
boundary  of  the  United  States  and  of  your  state  between  Osoyoos  Lake 
and  Paget  Sound  and  in  the  course  of  this  investigation  I  made  use  of 
the  old  boundary  map,  w^hich  had  not  been  published,  but  of  which  I  had 
secured  photographs  from  tJie  State  Department.  On  those  old  maps, 
which  antedated  much  of  the  settlement  of  your  state,  the  prominent 
geographic  features — rivers,  lakes,  and  mountains — were  given  both  the 
English  names  and  the  old  Indian  names,  in  many  cases  only  the  Indian 
names,  since  the  country  was  then  comparatively  unknown  to  white  men. 
Now  the  interesting  fact  is  that  Mount  Baker  was  given  not  only  this 
English  name,  but  the  old  Indian  name  as  well  of  Ta-ho-ma.  In  other 
words,  the  Indians  applied  this  name,  which,  as  you  know,  signifies  'The 
Great  Mountain',  not  only  to  the  mountain  which  so  beautifully  looms  up 
above  your  own  city,  but  also  the  mountain  somewhat  similar  in  general 
appearance,  in  the  northern  part  of  your  state  and  very  likely  to  others 
of  the  volcanic  cones  in  Washington.  The  fact  is  that  the  Siwash  would 
speak  of  the  largest  mountain  in  his  immediate  vicinity  as  'The  Mount', 
just  as  the  Tacoma  man  will  today  refer  to  'the  mountain',  meaning 
Mount  Rainier,  whereas  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Nooksak  you  will  hear  the 
ranchman  designating  Mount  Baker  as  'the  mountain.'  The  name  Ta- 
ho-ma  or  Tacoma,  as  applied  to  a  mountain,  thus  having  no  distinctive 
value,  it  was  necessarily  abandoned  and  the  more  distinctive  names  of 
Baker  and  Rainier  have  been  applied  to  the  mountains  that  are  so  well 
worth  naming. 

"As  a  member  of  an  organization  devoted  to  exact  geographic  work, 
I  am  compelled  to  stand  for  the  authoritative  name  of  Rainier,  which  is 
supported  by  the  Board  of  Geographic  Names,  which  in  turn  bears  the 
stamp  of  approval  of  President  Roosevelt,  to  whom  your  letter  refers,  in 
this  connection." 

In  the  "Canoe  and  Saddle",  by  Theodore  Winthrop,  are  these  words : 

"Of  all  the  peaks  from  California  to  Frazer's  River,  this  one  before 
me  was  royalist.  Mount  Regnier,  Christians  have  dubbed  it,  in  stupid 
nomenclature  perpetuating  the  name  of  somebody  or  nobody.  More 
melodiously  the  Siwashes  call  it  Tacoma,  a  generic  tenn  also  applied  to  all 
snow  peaks." 

53 


Tims  the  author  of  the  word  Taeoma  acknowledges  it  to  be  a  generic 
term,  completely  destroying  the  claim  that  it  was  the  specific  name  for  Eainier. 

I  could  quote  many  more  authorities  to  show  that  the  word  "Taeoma'' 
was  only  a  generic  term.  In  short,  I  have  never  heard  anyone  who  was  in 
favor  of  the  word  "Taeoma"  deny  that  it  was  but  a  generic  term.  Manv  of  the 
letters  included  in  the  Hon.  James  Wickershaan's  paper  entitled  "Is  It  Mt. 
Taeoma  or  Eainier",  published  in  the  Taeoma  Academy  of  Science  Bulletin 
for  1983,  concede  "Taeoma"  to  be  a  generic  term. 

And  lastly,  many  authorities  do  not  consider  the  word  "Taeoma"  a  genuine 
Indian  word  but  rather  an  Indian's  attempt  to  pronounce  a  white  man's  word. 
It  is  not  unusual  for  foreign  words  to  creep  into  a  language.  In  fact,  this  is 
precisely  the  way  in  which  the  English  language  has  been  built  up. 

Ezra  Meeker,  a  pioneer  of  1853,  in  early  days  the  largest  employer  of 
Indian  labor  on  Puget  Sound,  a  firm  friend  of  the  Indians,  in  a  book  entitled 
"The  Tragedy  of  Leschi",  on  page  179,  says: 

"AVe  have  a  like  curious  phenomenon  in  the  case  of  Winthrop  first 
writing  the  word  Taeoma,  in  September,  1853.  Xone  of  the  old  settlers 
had  heard  that  name,  either  through  the  Indians  or  othei'\\'ise,  until  after 
the  publication  of  Winthrop's  work  ten  years  later,  'The  Canoe  and  The 
Saddle',  when  it  became  common  knowledge  and  was  locally  applied  in 
Olympia  as  early  as  1866,  said  to  have  been  suggested  by  Edward  Giddings 
of  that  place. 

"However,  as  "Winthrop  distinctly  claimed  to  have  obtained  the  word 
from  the  Indians,  the  fact  was  accepted  by  the  reading  public,  and  the 
Indians  soon  took  their  cue  from  their  white  neighbors.'' 

Thomas  Milton  Buchanan,  superintendent  of  the  Tulalip  Indian  Reserva- 
tion, in  the  Washington  State  Historical  Society  Publications,  Vol.  II,  p.  449, 
states : 

"When  I  stated  that  I  did  not  know  the  Puyallup  'Indian'  word  for 
the  mountain  'Rainier'  I  had  in  mind  the  word  'Ta-ko-bid'  (or  Tah-koh- 
buh',  as  some  pronounce  it),  but  I  have  never  considered  that  a  genuine 
Indian  word  but  merely  the  Indian  attempt  to  say  the  word  'Taeoma'. 
Several  very  intelligent  Indians  (some  of  the  most  intelligent  and  reliable 
I  have  ever  known)  agree  with  me  in  the  belief  that  it  is  merely  an  Indian 
attempt  to  say  a  word  that  they  have  heard  the  whites  use,  and  this  ap- 
pears to  corroborate  Meeker,  If  Winthrop's  legend  was  true  it  is  singular 
that  Meeker  (who  was  in  the  vicinity  before  Winthrop,  who  has  known  the 
Indians  most  of  his  life,  and  who  was  their  intimate,  confidante,  and 
friend,  and  who  could  himself  converse  with  the  Indians  direct  without 
the  mediation  of  an  interpreter)  never  heard  it  and  could  never  obtain  any 
history  of  it  in  more  than  forty  years  of  life  among  the  same  Indians." 
Mr.  Thomas  W.  Prosch  in  the  same  work,  on  page  459,  saj^s: 

"I  do  not  entirely  agree  with  some  writers  that  the  Indians  were 
possessed  of  so  many  names,  or  such  enduring  and  expressive  ones.     I 

54 


could  give  a  dozen  different  meanings  for  Taconia,  Talioma  or  Takobat, 
reported  by  these  writers,  not  one  of  which  possibly  was  founded  upon 
truth,  and  the  absolute  truth  concerning  which  will  certainly  never  be 
known.  At  any  rate  the  Indians  were  always  ready  to  adopt  for  themselves 
the  personal  names  given  them  by  the  whites,  and  even  more  freely  gave 
up  their  local  names  for  the  names  substituted  by  the  white  men.  They 
always  seemed  to  have  little  or  no  interest  in  old  things — in  their  old 
men  and  women,  their  old  names,  their  old  personal  goods,  their  old 
homes — any  and  everything  they  had  they  were  ready  to  change,  to 
abandon,  to  sell,  to  give  up  in  one  way  or  another,  when  called  upon  so  to 
do  or  it  was  to  their  advantage." 

These  authorities  believe  that  the  word  "Tacoma"  or  some  form  of  it, 
came  into  the  Indian  language  through  the  medium  of  the  white  man.  It  is  not 
extraordinary  that  George  Gibbs  should  have  included  it  in  his  paper  published 
in  Contributions  to  North  American  Ethnology,  Vol.  I,  1877.  The  word  had 
ample  time  to  get  into  the  Indian  language  by  1873,  which  was  the  date  of 
Gibbs'  death.  Judge  Wickersham  has  repeatedly  referred  to  George  Gibbs 
and  his  work  and  he  has  always  insisted  upon  connecting  it  with  the  year  1853, 
stating  that  Gibbs  then  secured  the  word.  It  is  historically  unfair  to  date 
George  Gibbs'  work  from  1853  when  it  was  published  in  1877.  The  Judge 
may  infer  what  he  pleases  but  the  fact  remains  that  no  person  ever  introduced 
the  word  "Tacoma"  prior  to  Winthrop. 

This  concludes  my  argument.  I  have  endeavored  to  show  first,  that 
Eainier  has  a  perfect  title,  and  second,  that  the  word  "Tacoma"  from  the 
historical  standpoint  is  not  the  proper  word  to  be  substituted  for  Rainier  if 
a  substitution  were  to  be  made.  If  this  Honorable  Body  should  substitute 
the  word  "'Tacoma"  I  should  regard  such  action  as  most  arbitrarv. 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS 

Mr.  Conover  then  concluded  the  case  for  Rainier  as  follows : 

I  feel  that  the  gentleman  who  sits  across  the  table  from  me  has  helped 
to  make  our  task  easy  and  that  many  words  will  not  be  necessary.  I  believe 
the  gentleman  is  Congressman  Johnson,  although  I  do  not  know  him  and  this 
is  the  first  time  I  have  seen  him.  I  said  in  my  opening  remarks  that  one  of 
the  characteristics  of  this  Tacoma  obsession,  as  far  as  the  naime  of  the  mountain 
is  concerned,  is  that  I  have  always  foimd  that  Tacoma,  while  believing  itself 
sincere,  wishes  to  know  only  the  evidence  that  bears  out  its  side  of  the  con- 
troversy. In  other  words,  that  Tacoma  does  not  waoit  to  know  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  I  did  not  know  that  they  would  come 
here  and  acknowledge  this  fact  before  this  Honorable  Board,  but  it  could  not 
have  been  done  more  convincingly  than  was  done  by  Congressman  Johnson. 

55 


This  young  man,  Mr.  Farrar,  is  a  student  of  history.  It  is  his  vocation,  his 
pleasure,  his  relaxation,  and  to  it  he  gives  a  mind  peculiarly  qualified  for  such 
study.  He  came  before  this  Board  to  tell  the  facts  from  a  historical  standpoint, 
and  the  fact  that  we  produced  a  man  to  tell  those  facts,  a  man  without  bias 
or  prejudice  or  anything  on  earth  but  knowledge,  has  produced  a  scene  in  this 
room,  which,  while  disgraceful  and  offensive  to  the  dignity  of  this  Board,  is 
of  real  value  as  indicating  to  this  Board  the  inherent  insincerity  of  the  move- 
ment for  a  change  of  name. 

Judge  Wickersham  has  had  considerable  to  say  about  Indian  testimony 
and  has  quoted  Matthew  Seattle,  the  alleged  descendant  of  old  Chief  Seattle. 
I  wish  to  read  to  you  from  the  AYashington  State  Historical  Society  Publica- 
tions, Vol.  II,  page  449,  this  statement  over  the  signature  of  Charles  M.  Bu- 
chanan, Superintendent  of  the  Tulalip  Indian  Reservation,  the  greatest  author- 
ity on  Indian  matters  in  the  Northwest: 

"I  knew  Matthew  Seattle  quite  well,  and  I  knew  his  father,  John, 
who  yet  lives.  There  is  not  a  drop  of  blood  of  old  Chief  Se-at-tlh  in  the 
veins  of  either  John  or  Matthew.  They  had  absolutely  no  right  to  the 
name  "Seattle''  though  it  was  quite  a  common  trick  among  Indians  to 
adopt  the  name  of  another  Indian  who  had  become  well  known.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  John  and  Matthew  did  not  belong  to  the  same  tribe  as 
Se-at-tlh — the  latter  lived,  died  and  was  buried  (1866)  upon  one  of  the 
reservations  under  my  jurisdiction  on  the  Port  Madison  Indian  Reserva- 
tion of  this  Agency." 

I  will  also  quote  from  a  letter  from  Thomas  W.  Prosch,  historian  and 
journalist,  now  deceased,  page  459,  same  volume: 

"I  am  not  filled  with  faith  concerning  the  reliability  of  information 
derived  from  the  Indians.  Capt.  George  Yancouxer,  while  off  the  present 
City  of  Tacoma,  stnick  the  ke^Tiote  of  their  character  when  he  said.  'The 
little  respect  which  most  Indians  bear  to  truth  and  their  readiness  to 
assert  what  they  think  is  most  agreeable  for  the  moment  or  to  answer 
their  own  particular  wishes  and  inclinations  induced  me  to  place  little 
dependence  on  this  information,  although  they  could  have  no  motive  for 
deceiving  us.' " 

Mr.  Prosch  continues: 

"Veneration  was  small  in  them  for  the  truth  as  well  as  for  other 
things.  Forty  years  ago  no  white  man  on  Puget  Sound  could  be  con- 
victed on  Indian  testimony.  I  feel  quite  sure  that  the  faith  in  alleged 
Indian  names,  in  meanings,  legends  and  traditions  is  much  greater  among 
the  people  who  have  come  to  Washington  during  the  last  thirty  years  than 
it  is  among  those  who  came  here  during  the  thirty  years  before." 

It  seems  needless  to  argue  to  this  Board  the  disastrous  results  that  would 
follow  a  change  in  this  name.  This  is  not  a  local  matter  but  concerns  the 
civilized  world  upon  whose  maps,  charts  and  publications  of  all  sorts  Mt. 

56 


Rainier  has  been  the  official  name  for  all  time.  The  Government  has  expended 
large  sums  in  exploiting  the  scientific,  scenic  and  health-giving  features  of 
Eainier  National  Park.  Mt.  Taicoma  in  Mt.  Eainier  National  Park  would  be 
an  anomaly,  and,  as  I  understand  it^  the  name  of  the  park  could  only  be 
changed  by  act  of  Congress. 

Up  to  this  time  Eainier  prevails  throughout  the  civilized  world  as  the 
name  of  this  mountain,  except  in  the  city  of  Tacoma.  Which  is  easier  to 
change,  the  custom  of  the  world  or  of  one  commimity  ?  If,  furthermore,  there 
is  nothing  final  about  a  decision  by  this  Honorable  Board  and  its  decisions  of 
years  ago  can  be  reversed,  undoubtedly  efforts  will  be  made  in  the  future  to 
secure  other  reversals  of  said  reversals.  And  if  it  should  be  decided  by  this 
Honorable  Board  to  change  the  name  to  "Tacoma"  there  is  no  question  in  my 
mind  that  it  will  be  called  upon  to  change  most  of  the  names  bestowed  by 
Vancouver  in  the  Pacific  Northwest,  through  movements  instigated  by  ambi- 
tious communities  in  their  several  and  respective  localities.  But  in  the  words 
of  the  Seattle  Post-Intelligencer,  such  change  by  the  Geographic  Board  would 
not  make  Eainier  anything  but  Eainier  in  the  written  or  spoken  language  of 
the  world  at  large. 

I  thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman  and  gentlemen,  for  your  patience  and  courtes) 
throughout  this  hearing. 


Short  and  effective  arguments  in  favor  of  retaining  the  historic  name  of 
Eainier  were  also  made  by  Eear  Admiral  Eichardson  Clover,  a  member  and 
secretary  of  the  United  States  Geographic  Board  when  the  Board  unanimously 
confirmed  the  name  Eainier  more  than  twenty-six  years  ago,  Hon.  John  F. 
Miller,  William  Pitt  Trimble  and  Professor  Charles  V.  Piper,  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  Unfortunately  reports  of  these  addresses  are  not  avail- 
able for  this  record. 


Si}^  Smfitnn 


Geographic  Board  Again  Confinns  Name  "Rainier" 

Washington,  Mav  28,  1917. 
Mr.  C.  T.  Conover, 

702  Central  Building, 
Seattle,  Washington. 
Dear  Sir : 

In  compliance  with  the  petition  expressed  in  Senate  Joint  Memorial  No. 
14  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Washington,  the  United  States  Geo- 

57 


graphic  Board  held  a  public  meeting  on  May  2,  1917,  to  receive  evidence  and 
hear  arguments  for  and  against  changing  the  name  of  Mt.  Rainier  in  the 
State  of  Washington. 

At  a  special  meeting  held  May  11,  the  evidence  presented  on  May  2, 
together  with  other  data  collected,  were  carefully  considered  and,  after  dis- 
cussion, the  United  States  Geographic  Board  declined  to  reconsider  its  former 
action  establishing  the  name  Eainier  for  the  mountain. 

The  name  Mount  Eainier,  given  by  Vancouver  in  1792,  fixed  by  a  century 
of  world  usage,  was  confinned  by  action  of  the  United  States  Board  on  Geo- 
graphic Names  in  1890. 

For  a  hundred  years  the  name  of  Mount  Rainier  has  been  used  wherever 
the  mountain  has  been  mentioned  in  the  histories,  geographies,  books  on  travel 
and  exploration,  scientific  publications,  encycloiDcdias,  dictionaries,  and  atlases 
of  many  nations — by  the  United  States,  Canada,  England,  France,  Germany, 
Holland.  Italy,  Russia,  Spain,  and  even  Arabia.  In  recent  years  a  few  dic- 
tionaries and  encyclopedias  have  added  the  word  Tacoma,  usually  in  paren- 
thesis, following  the  name  Mount  Rainier,  but  general  usage  is  overwhelm- 
ingly in  favor  of  Rainier. 

The  mountain  is  within  a  national  park  and  Congress  has  decided  the 
name  of  the  park  to  be  Mount  Rainier  National  Park.  The  mountain  is  also 
located  in  a  forest  reserve,  known  as  the  Rainier  National  Forest.  It  would 
appear,  therefore,  that  the  name  Rainier  is  well  established,  both  by  an  execu- 
tive order  and  by  act  of  Congress. 

No  geographic  feature  in  any  part  of  the  world  can  claim  a  name  more 
firmly  fixed  by  right  of  discovery,  by  priority,  and  by  universal  usage  for  more 
than  a  century.  So  far  as  kno^Ti,  no  attempt  has  ever  been  made  by  any 
people  in  any  part  of  the  world  to  change  a  name  so  firmly  established. 

Very  respectfully, 

(Signed)     C.  S.  SLOANE, 

Secretary. 


5g 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  50  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


DEC  29    1933 


T)Er-     P^  1933 


LD  21-100m-7,'33 


■ 


36/9s56 


h  897 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  LIBRARY 


